Leave No Trace, for People Who Actually Go Outside
The seven principles, translated out of bureaucrat and into the things that actually matter on a real trip.
Plan ahead and prepare: check the regulations, the weather, and the trail conditions the morning you leave. Half of all search-and-rescue calls start with somebody who didn't.
Travel and camp on durable surfaces: rock, gravel, established trail, dry grass. Cryptobiotic crust in the desert takes 50 years to grow back from a single footprint. Walk in single file in the middle of the trail, even when it's muddy. Especially when it's muddy.
Dispose of waste properly: pack out everything, including orange peels and apple cores. They take two years to break down at altitude and they teach wildlife to associate trails with food. For human waste, dig a 6–8 inch cathole 200 feet from water, or use a wag bag where required (Mt. Whitney, slot canyons, glaciers).
Leave what you find. Minimize campfire impact. Respect wildlife. Be considerate of other visitors. None of these are hard. All of them matter more than they used to — these places see more visitors in a month now than they used to see in a year.