1. Be at least in the 5th grade.

Camping Skills I has been designed so that it is within the capabilities

of Pathfinders who are in the 5th grade or higher.

2. Understand and practice wilderness and camping etiquette,

regarding preservation of the outdoors.

Be considerate of other campers. When purchasing tents, buy ones in

muted colors that will blend in with the environment. Blues, greens,
and browns are preferred to reds and oranges. People go camping to
escape the garishness of the city—leave that behind.
Also be mindful of the noise level made in your camp. Don't be a
nuisance. If camping in the wilderness, be sure to make your camp out
of sight of the trail. Most National Forests have guidelines for where
you can camp in relation to the trail. Find out what those guidelines are
and follow them.
Do not enter anyone else's camp site without their permission,
especially when traveling to or from your campsite to other places on
the campground. It is very rude to cut through another camp. Use the
road or trail, even if it will take longer.
Leave the area cleaner than you found it. If you are leading a group of
youngsters on a campout, have a contest before you pile back in your
cars to go home: see who can collect the most litter (define "most" first
though - it can mean by volume, by weight, or by item count). Offer a
prize to the one who collects the most (such as getting to choose which
seat he or she will sit in on the trip home)..
I suggest that you replace the first paragraph as follows:
Be considerate of other campers. When purchasing tents, buy ones in
muted colors that will blend in with the environment. Blues, greens,
and browns are preferred to reds and oranges. People go camping to
escape the garishness of the city—leave that behind. However if you
ever plan to go camping in a location that allows hunting- such as a
national forest, bright colors is an important safety consideration.
Camouflaged tents will not aid hunters in quickly identifying that there
are people in the area.
 3. Know ten things to do when lost.

The best advice about being lost, is - DON'T! And the best way to keep
from getting lost is to stay on the path.
If you suddenly realize that you do not know where you are, then here
are some things to do:
1. Don't panic. You can't think clearly when you panic, so take a deep
breath and relax.
2. Pray. You may not know where you are, but God does, so talk to Him.
3. Stay where you are. It is a lot easier for someone to find you if you stay
put.
4. Listen for the sounds of other campers, traffic, waterfalls, rivers,
airplanes or anything that might help you find your way back.
5. Look around - maybe you'll recognize something that can guide you
back to civilization.
6. If you have a whistle, blow on it. If you don't have a whistle, yell loudly.
Someone in your party might hear you. Repeat this every 15 minutes or
so and be sure to listen after each sounding. (three of anything is
universally recognized as a call for help, so three whistle blasts, or three
shouts)
7. If you have a map and compass, try to locate your position by looking
for hills valleys or streams.
8. You can try to relocate the trail, but you do not want to get any further
away from your last known location. Mark your location with
something - a backpack, hat, or a large rock - but make sure it's
something unmistakable. Then venture 10 meters out, and circle your
marker, all the while looking about to see if you recognize the trail or a
landmark, and always keeping your marker in view. If you do not see
anything you recognize, widen the circle by another 10 meters and
repeat. Continue circling your marker at ever wider intervals, but stop
when continuing would cause you to lose sight of the marker.
9. Climb a tree or hillside. A higher vantage point might reveal a landmark
you missed from a lower elevation.
10. If it's an hour or less until sunset, prepare to spend a comfortable
evening. Make a shelter, and light a fire. Things will look better in the
morning, and your fire may attract a rescuer.

4. Be familiar with various types of sleeping equipment suitable to

location and season.
Sleeping bags
Aside from the 3 main shapes of the bag listed below, a more important
issue is what is in the bag and how it is stitched. The warmer bags are
feather filled (duck down) and the bags are rated by a weight ratio.
Other bags have synthetic fiber, also rated by a weight ratio.
Good bags will show either 3 or 4 season or may give an outside
temperature value they would keep you warm in. Some bags are rather
large and hard to get into your pack. There are now better more
compact bags available.
Storing your bag
Do not leave it squashed into its outer bag. Hang it up on a hanger
to let the bag breathe when not in use.
Rectangular
The rectangular sleeping bag is probably the most common, and are
popular for light use. They are not suitable for backpacking because
they provide the least amount of warmth and the most amount of
weight. As the name implies, they are rectangle-shaped. While this
makes them comfortable and roomy, the wide opening near the top is a
major source of heat loss. Unlike a mummy bag it does not have a hood
that can be drawn around the head to retain heat.
Mummy Bag
The mummy bag is shaped like a sarcophagus. It is narrow at the feet
(but tall there to allow just enough room for the feet), tapers at the
waist, widens again at the shoulders, and then tapers down near the
head. The top is very much like the hood of a winter coat, complete with
drawstrings to close up the gap and keep heat in. Because they conform
so well to the human shape, there is very little wasted space inside. This
is good because your body has to heat all that space, and because the
 extra insulation and material thusly removed does not have to be
carried (meaning it's lighter).
Barrel Bag
The barrel bag is a modified mummy bag. It is roomier than the
mummy bag and provides almost the same warmth at the cost of
additional weight.
Sleeping Pads
Sleeping pads can perform two main functions:
1. Provide cushioning
2. Provide insulation between the sleeper and the ground.

Air mattresses
Air mattresses are inflatable cushions that can provide a lot of comfort
when it comes to sleeping on the ground. Unfortunately, they are not
very warm as they provide next to no insulation beneath the sleeper.
This may not be an issue, though it is well worth knowing.
Open-cell foam pads
Open-cell foam is a type of foam padding that is sometimes found in
furniture cushions or even in regular mattresses. It is lightweight -
though somewhat bulky. Its chief disadvantage is that it soaks up water
like a sponge.
Closed-cell foam pads
Closed-cell foam makes the ideal sleeping pad. The closed cells do not
soak up water. They are lightweight, comfortable, and compact. Often
they are only half an inch (12 mm) thick, so they can be rolled into a
small tube and strapped to a backpack. They also serve as an excellent
thermal barrier between the sleeper and the ground.
5. List personal items needed for a weekend campout.
Warm Weather Clothing
Keep in mind that the weather can change suddenly though. Just
because it is warm when you begin your outing does not mean it will be
warm the whole time. If there is a chance that the weather will turn
 cold, take along some cold weather gear as well. Check an almanac to
see how cold it can get during the time you are planning to be out.
Here is a list of clothing appropriate for a warm-weather outing.
 Thick socks
 Jeans
 Light Shirt (short sleeve)
 Light Shirt (long sleeve)
 Hat with a wide brim
 Boots

Cold Weather Clothing Remember to dress in layers. This will allow

you to control your temperature better. In cold weather, you do not
want to sweat, because that will soak your clothing and chill you. If you
find yourself working up a sweat, remove a layer of clothing, or open a
zipper. Rely on wool rather than on cotton, because wool stays warm
even when wet. There is a popular saying among experienced
outdoorsmen that "Cotton kills." This is because when cotton gets wet,
it steals the body's heat which can lead to hypothermia and death. Your
outer layer should be wind-proof, as this greatly increases the warmth
of your clothing. Here is a list:
 Thermal Underwear
 Light shirts (polyester or some other synthetic)
 Heavy Shirts
 Wool Sweater
 Wind Breaker
 Fleece Pants (synthetic)
 Nylon Pants (as the outside layer) or snow pants
 Overcoat
 Wool Socks
 Boots
 Warm Hat
 Sleepwear For comfortable sleeping and for modesty on overnight
trips, bring pajamas or a sweat suit. In many places where it is warm
during the day it gets cold at night, so be prepared.
Personal Gear
 Sleeping bag
 Foam ground pad or air mattress
 Flashlight
 Pocket knife
 Quarter roll of toilet paper
 Coins (for campground showers)
 Bible
 Camera
 Notepad and pencil
 Toiletries (Toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.)

6. Plan and participate in a weekend camping trip.

There are a lot of aspects to planning a camping trip, including

selection of a campground, choosing the dates, the menu, equipment,
and solving the problems of getting there. Get your whole group
involved in as much of the decision-making as possible. Where do they
want to camp? When can you go? What will you eat? Who will go? How
many tents will you need? Who will sleep in which tents? Is all the gear
in a good state of repair?
When all these decisions are made, someone needs to go out and buy
the food, repair, replace, or buy any gear that's needed, et cetera. Every
camper under the age of 18 should also have a signed permission slip
and an up-to-date medical release form. The forms should be
photocopied (reduce them if necessary and use two-sided copies - that
way you can have four forms per sheet of paper) and every staff
member should carry them at all times.
On the day of the campout, everyone should meet to load the
equipment, and finally, you are ready to go. When you get back,
everyone should help unload the equipment. Some should be taken
home and cleaned, and if the tents and tarps were even slightly damp,
they will need to be pitched again and allowed to dry completely. Then
they will need to be put away.
7. Know how to properly pitch and strike a tent. Observe fire
precautions when tent is in use.
The details vary for every type of tent there is, so we provide only
general tips here. First, carefully read the instructions that came with
your tent. If it's a new tent, keep the instructions. You might be
surprised how easy it is to forget which pole goes where.
First, unpack the tent and spread it on the ground. Some people like to
put the ground cloth under the tent, and others like to put it inside. If
you're going to put it beneath the tent, spread it out first. Before doing
anything else, lie down on the ground cloth and test each sleeping area.
If you feel a lump get rid of it now.
Then lay out the tent's canopy (that is, the cloth part that is not the fly).
Find the door and orient it where you want it. Then stake it down. This
will prevent the wind from blowing it away while you are trying to raise
it. Slide the poles into the tubes, but do not raise the tent until the main
poles (usually two of them) are all in place. Then raise them together.
There are usually aluminum "hooks" located at the stake-down straps
and shaped somewhat like a question mark. They are usually a couple
of inches long, and are there to slip the pole ends over. Once all the pole
are in place, throw the fly over the tent, being careful that the up side is
up and the front side is to the front.
Flies often have elastic ropes that attach to plastic clips near the pole
anchors, and they also generally have a rope at the four major corners.
These should be anchored such that the fly is held off the tent's canopy,
usually by staking them down or tying them to a tree. In the "olden
days" a taut line hitch would be used to tighten these ropes, but these
days the ropes are fitted with a three-hole plastic strap. The end of the
rope passes through the bottom-most hole and is tied off with a stopper
knot. From there, the rope goes to the anchor (tree, stake, etc.), and
passes through the middle hole, and then again through the top hole.
The plastic strap can then be slid up and down the rope to adjust the
tension. Do not over-tension these ropes - they should have some give
so that the tent can move a little with the wind. If they are too tight, the
wind will rip the stakes from the ground or topple the tent.
If possible, do not strike the tent until it has dried. If you can, wait until
the morning dew has evaporated. This is, of course, not always possible
- it could be pouring rain when it's time to go, so you'll have to strike a
wet tent. If your tent is wet when you strike it, you will need to set it up
to let it dry as soon as you get back. Do not store a wet tent. It will
be quickly ruined with mold and mildew.
To strike the tent first inspect the inside, being sure that everything has
been removed. Check the loops in the ceiling (coat hangers tend to hide
there) and the "stuff" bags on the walls (glasses and keys tend to hide
there). Then sweep the tent. Once everything has been removed, pull off
the fly, and stow it inside the tent (spread it out as flat as you can). If
you stand next to the tent's door, you can pull the fly off the canopy and
stuff it directly inside without it ever hitting the outside ground (and
thus picking up dirt, leaves, and moisture). Stowing the fly inside also
avoids the sad problem of cramming the canopy and poles into the
tent's duffel, and then noticing the that the fly still needs to get
crammed in there too. It's one less thing to roll up.
Then let down the poles. Carefully remove the poles from the canopy
and fold them up. If the tent poles are sectional tubes with a long piece
of elastic running through them all, it is better to push the poles out of
the canopy rather than trying to pull them through. Pulling on them
merely separates the sections and may break the elastic. Broken elastic
will have to be repaired before the tent can be pitched again, because
the elastic actually holds the poles together.
Once the poles have been stowed, remove the stakes and carefully fold
the tent. Put everything back into the bag it came in.
Keep any fire at least 20 feet (6 meters) from the tents. Sparks
sometimes fly out of a fire or are projected into the air (such as when an
inexperienced camper throws dry leaves into it). If these sparks land on
your tent, at best they will burn a little pinhole in it, but at worst can
cause a deadly tragedy.
Never light a fire of any kind inside a tent, be it a candle, lantern, or a
stove unless you know for a fact that the tent has been designed for
that purpose.
 8. Know and practice the proper principles for camp sanitation for both
primitive and established campsites.
If camping at a facility that has toilets, use them. If camping in the
wilderness, you will have to either build a latrine or use cat holes. Do
"your business" at least 60 meters away from any source of water
(such as a spring, river, or lake), and at least 30 meters away from
your camp. Dig a shallow hole 7-10cm deep and go there. Then bury
it (and any toilet paper). At this depth, there is a lot of bacteria in the
soil to quickly compost your waste. Digging deeper will make it take
longer.
Just because you are camping does not mean you are at liberty to skip
personal hygiene. Wash your hands before you eat and after you answer
"nature's call." Brush your teeth before you go to bed and after
breakfast. Wash your face and clean your fingernails.
Keep your kitchen clean too, and wash your dishes as soon as you finish
eating. Dishes should be washed with hot, soapy, potable water. A few
drops of bleach should be added to your rinse water. It's a good idea to
heat dish washing water while preparing meals so that it is ready to use
as soon as there are dirty dishes to wash. Be sure the water is not hot
enough to scald anyone's hands. Cold water and boiling water can be
mixed half-and-half for a comfortable washing temperature.
9. Properly use the knife and hatchet. Know ten safety rules for their
use.
Knife Safety
 Keep your blades sharp. A dull knife is difficult to push through wood,
requiring additional force. When the wood finally gives, the blade keeps
going.
 Always push the blade away from you, and constantly consider where
the blade will go.
 Keep your fingers clear of the blade at all times.
 When splitting wood with a knife, do not hammer on the back of the
blade. This weakens the attachment to the handle and deforms the
blade.
 Close a pocket knife when it's not in use or when you are carrying it.
 Keep all blades away from heat. Heat will remove the temper, softening
the blade. A soft blade will not hold an edge, making it nearly
impossible to keep it sharp.

Hatchet Safety
 Before chopping any wood, take a gentle practice swing to check that
the axe will not catch on anything (such as an overhead branch).
 Consider what will happen if you miss whatever you are chopping at -
will you accidentally hit a finger? A foot? A bystander? Leave plenty of
margin for error.
 Make sure the axe head is firmly attached to the axe handle. If it is
loose, you may tighten it by wetting the handle, by driving a hardwood
wedge into the handle through the eye of the blade, or by rapping the
axe handle vertically on a hard surface.
 Keep bystanders away by one arms length plus two axe-lengths.
 When handing someone an axe, present the handle to them rather than
the blade.
 Walk with the blade facing away from you.
 Sheathe the axe when it is not in use.
 Always maintain firm footing when using or carrying an axe.
 Stop when you are tired and rest. Tired people are more prone to
accidents and mistakes.

10. Fires
a. Demonstrate ability to choose and prepare a fire site.
Do not build a fire within 6 meters of a tent. Sparks from the fire can
easily travel that far and strike a tent, either burning a hole in it, or
setting it ablaze. If it is occupied, this can be deadly. A fire should
likewise not be built underneath trees as it is possible to ignite the tree's
canopy. Stay clear of vehicles as well.
There are many ways to prepare an area where you will build your
campfire. If you are in an established camping area, look for a place
where a fire has already been built. Do not start a fire in a new area if
there are fire pits already available. If you must build a fire in a new
area, dig out any sod first, and lay it aside. Keep it in the shade (perhaps
beneath a vehicle) and water it every day so it does not dry out (perhaps
 with your rinse water). You will replace it before you leave. If there is no
sod, clear out all the duff and debris so that only inorganic material is in
the fire ring. Clear an area double the diameter of the intended fire.
Then place stones inside this ring, building a small wall as it were. Try
to fit the stones so that there are no gaps, or only small gaps. The stone
ring should be six to eight inches high, and it should go all the way
around the circle. Before you lay the fire, make sure you have a means
to extinguish it nearby and ready to go. This could be a fire
extinguisher, a bucket of sand, or a bucket of water. Means of
extinguishing the fire should be on hand before the fire is lit. The fire
ring should then be ready for a fire.

b. Know fire safety precautions.

 Locate the fire in a safe place. It should be clear for 10 feet (3 meters) all
around.
 Do not light a fire beneath overhanging branches.
 Do not use accelerants, such as lighter fluid, gasoline, kerosene, etc.
Learn to light a fire without these.
 Put the fire out completely before leaving it. If it's too hot to put your
hands in the ashes, it's not sufficiently out. Douse it down with water,
turn the coals with a shovel, and be sure to extinguish every coal and
ember.
 Do not build a fire on top of flammable material such as grass or leaves.
 Cut away the sod (keep it moist so it stays alive, and replace it before
your leave), and clear away the duff and litter.
 Keep fire extinguishing supplies handy and near the fire. A bucket of
water or sand, or a fire extinguisher are recommended.
 Do not remove burning sticks from a fire.
 Watch for embers that escape the fire pit and extinguish them
immediately.
 Wear proper footwear around a fire.
 Be aware that paper, cardboard, and leaves create floating embers that
rise out of the fire pit and may land dozens of yards away.
 Do not light a fire when conditions are adverse (high winds, or drought
conditions).
 c. Know how to properly strike a match.
Three things are needed for a fire to start: oxygen, fuel, and heat. The
match head is a fuel that can be ignited at about 360 °F (182 °C), which
can be obtained through friction. The oxygen is supplied by the air. To
strike a match, quickly and firmly drag the match head along the striker
pad on the side of the box or outside of the package. Keep your fingers
away from the match head. Once the head ignites, the temperature will
increase sharply and ignite the match stick. Fire prefers to climb uphill,
and you can control the size of the flame to a certain extent by tilting
the head down (for a bigger flame) or up (for a smaller flame). Carefully
shield the flame from wind (which lowers the temperature) by cupping
your other hand around the flame and move it to the tinder you wish to
light.
d. Practice building a fire with the use of one match, using only natural
materials.
There are three factors that govern a fire:
1. Oxygen
2. Fuel
3. Heat

You need all three to get a fire going, and the way you lay the fire will
determine how much of each of these are available. To get a fire going,
you will need to ignite some tinder. The tinder will need to burn long
enough to ignite kindling, and the kindling will need to burn long
enough to ignite the fuel. Before lighting a match, it is important to
have all three types of fuel available.
Start by laying your tinder in the center of your fire ring. Tinder
consists of small, easily ignited material, such as pine needles, shreds of
birch bark, thin twigs (whose diameter is about the same as a pencil
lead), or even dryer lint. Once the tinder is on place, lay some larger
pieces over it (this is the kindling). Kindling is wood whose diameter
ranges from pencil thickness to 4 cm . It should be arranged with the
smallest-diameter pieces nearest to the tinder.
An effective method of doing this is to get two small fuel logs - about 3"
in diameter, and lay them parallel to one another and 15-20 cm
apart, with the tinder in between. Then lay a small, straight stick
across them and over the tinder. Call this stick the "ridge pole". Next lay
more pencil-sized sticks with one end on the ridge pole and the other
end on the ground. Lay them alternately on both sides of the ridge pole
as if you were framing a roof. These can be called the "rafters". Once
this is done and the rafters make a "roof" that spans the distance
between the two logs and covers the tinder, lay two more ridge poles,
one on either side of the first ridge pole, and then lay more rafters from
them to the ground (but leave a little space between the rafters). You
can repeat this a third time if you like, but it's important to leave a gap
somewhere so you can get a match inside to light the tinder. The sticks
in each layer of rafters should be a little larger than the ones that came
before.
Do not light this pile until you have gathered sufficient fuel for the fire!
Fuel consists of wood that is greater than 7 cm in diameter. The
tender pile described above will burn for about five minutes or so, and
that does not leave much time for you to scrounge around looking for
something to pile onto the flames. Therefore, you should have your fuel
ready to go.
Once the tinder is lit, you can use the fuel to lay a hunter's fire, teepee, a
log cabin or a council fire on top of the first two logs. It works well,
because there is a great deal of kindling stacked close together, but not
so close as to reduce oxygen flow. The kindling is also laid close to the
tinder so the tinder has no trouble igniting it (assuming it is dry and
pencil-sized).
e. Demonstrate how to protect firewood in wet weather.
Obviously, you will want to keep your firewood dry, and there are many
ways to do that. One effective method is to put a tarp on the ground,
stack the wood on top of it, and fold the tarp over the top. Place one or
two heavier logs on top to hold the tarp down. Those logs will get wet,
but they will prevent the wind from blowing the tarp off and soaking the
rest of your wood. Having a tarp beneath the wood will keep water from
running under the stack and soaking the bottom logs, but this not
entirely necessary.
You can also keep firewood in an enclosed trailer, or the trunk of a car if
those are available to you. Another option is to keep it under a kitchen
tent or canopy.
11. Bake bread on a stick.
First you will need a bed of coals. If you attempt to bake your bread
over a flame, it will be burned on the outside and raw on the inside.
Make the bread dough or bring a frozen tube of pre-made dough. Get a
straight stick 100-130cm long and clean the end of it off. You can do
this by removing the bark or by washing it in clean water. Wrap the
dough in a thin layer around the stick, spiraling it as you go. The dough
should cover the top 10-15cm of the stick. Once the dough is secured
to the stick, jam the other end of the stick into the ground or support it
with rocks or large pieces of firewood, so that the bread is held over the
coals. The bread dough should be held at a distance from the coals
where it is uncomfortably hot to hold your hand. Turn the stick every
couple of minutes until the outside is golden brown (this is why you
need a straight stick). You can eat the bread right off the stick. This is
an excellent early morning activity while everyone is tying to warm up
around the fire. It works equally well at night.

12. Describe the proper procedures for washing and keeping clean the
cooking and eating utensils.

Make up a mess kit for each camper, consisting of a plate, cup, bowl,
knife, fork, and spoon. Store each kit in a mesh hosiery bag. Every mess
kit should have a number, and every item in the kit should be labeled
with that number. Every camper should be assigned a number. After
the meal, each camper will wash his or her own mess kit. If a dirty plate
is found abandoned on a picnic table, a quick check for its number will
reveal who is responsible for that item.
Use three large tubs for washing the dishes. One will be filled with
soapy water (heated if possible), the second one will have rinse water
and the third tub is for sanitizing. Plates should be scraped clean or
wiped with a paper towel before placing them in the soapy water. This
will allow the soapy water to be used longer before the food debris and
grease prevents plate from being cleaned thoroughly before rinsing. The
sanitizing solution is made by adding one measured tablespoon of
Bleach per gallon (do not use scented or high efficiency bleach; old
fashioned cheap chlorine bleach is what you need). This solution should
have about 100 parts per million (PPM) of chlorine. It can also be used
to sanitize food contact surfaces such as cutting boards etc. The key is
that the chlorine solution needs to come in contact with the item being
sanitized for 60 seconds. Using the third sanitizing tub to soak items for
60 seconds ensures that the plates are properly sanitized.
To conserve water on the camp-out you may rotate the water (and
bleach) down the line from clean to dirty. That is you dump out the
soapy wash water, wipe out the tub and add fresh soap. Now dump the
rinse water into the wash tub and wipe the tub out. Finally dump the
sanitizing water into the rinse tub and refill the sanitizing tub with fresh
water and bleach.
Each dish should be washed, rinsed, sanitized, and returned to its mesh
bag for drying. The mesh bags will then be hung from a clothesline. If
the clothespins used to hold them to the line are also numbered, it is a
lot easier for each camper to find his or her own kit if they are hung in
numeric order.
Whoever is on kitchen duty for that meal (and everyone should be
assigned at least once) is responsible for washing the cooking gear.
Again, they should wipe the pots, pans, and utensils as clean as possible
before subjecting the wash water to them. They will need to be dried
after rinsing and then put away. The kitchen crew should then take
steps to properly dispose of the trash, lest the camp attract critters.
Critters may be cute, but they sure do make big messes!
13. Describe sleeping wear and how to stay warm at night.

A good sleeping bag is essential to staying warm at night. Campers

should absolutely not go to bed wearing their dirty day clothes. This will
only make the sleeping bag filthy and the camper will not be as
comfortable. Wear thermal underwear, pajamas, and/or a sweat suit.
Layering will keep you warmer, but if you toss and turn a lot, they may
twist around and become uncomfortable.

14. Draw a spiritual object lesson from nature on your camping trip.

There are many possibilities for meeting this requirement. Jesus used
nature to illustrate object lessons on many occasions:
Birds
 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will
fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. Matthew
10:29 - NIV
Flowers
And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies
of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to
you that not even (AL)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself
like one of these. Matthew 6:28,29 - NIV
Water
Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, John 4:7-38
15. Explain and practice the motto: "Take only pictures and leave only
footprints.”

"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints" is pretty self-
explanatory. It means you do not disturb nature while you are out
enjoying it. If you see a pretty rock, leave it there for someone else to
enjoy. If you eat a piece of candy on the trail, don't toss the wrapper —
take it with you.
There are a few exception to both these rules. If you see trash, by all
means, take it. Throw it in the trash when you get to a proper trash
receptacle. Also be aware that footprints are not always harmless. Many
tundra plants that take years to grow can be destroyed by a single
footprint. Stay on the trail.
One of the most important ways people leave their mark on the land is
by building a campfire. For "no trace" camping, bring a camp stove.
Unfortunately, the campfire is one of the primary attractions for many
people, so it is not easy to follow this advice. If your campsite has a fire
ring or an existing fire pit, use that. If it does not and you must have a
campfire, lay a small tarp on the ground and cover it with six to eight
inches of mineral sand. Mineral sand is sand containing no organic
material, and can be found on a beach or where a large tree has fallen
over and raised a root wad. The sand must be piled deep so the heat
does not affect the tarp beneath. Stop putting new fuel on the fire well
before you are ready to put it out, and push in the ends of sticks that
have not yet burned. Allow them to burn down to white ash. When you
are ready to leave, douse the fire well, and spread the ashes over a wide
area. Return the sand to the place where you found it and pack up your
tarp.
Note: The tent color for Camping Skills #1 is blue.