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  DayHike: Stay on the Trail
A trail is a scar on the landscape, albeit a minor one. Where there is a trail, you should use it - not wander away from it.Always stick to the trail, even if it means walking in mud.
Cross-country travel is for areas where there are no trails. You shouldn't parallel a trail in order to experience off-trail walking. Most damage is caused when walkers walk along the ed On steep slopes, in particular, switchbacks should always be used in their entirety. Too many hillsides have been badly damaged by people short-cutting switchbacks, creating new, steeper routes that quickly become water channels. In meadows and Alpine terrain, where it's easy to walk anywhere, multiple trails often appear where people have walked several abreast. In such terrain, you should follow the main trail, if you can figure out which it is, and walk single file. When snow blocks part of a trail, try to follow the line of where the trail would be; don't create a new trail by walking around the edge of a snow patch unless you need to do so for safety.
© 1997 Ragged Mountain Press/McGraw-Hill. Adapted from The Backpacker's Handbook, by Chris Townsend.- Chris Townsend Related Articles
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Backpack; Birds & Wildlife; Glacier Travel; Ice Climbing; Mountain Bike; Mountaineering Basics; Snow Climbing; Winter Camping; Women;
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ges or just off the trail, widening it and destroying the vegetation alongside.