Skills: Avoiding Illness In The Backcountry

When traveling into the backcountry is it ok to leave behind hygiene practices along with other creature comforts? In some ways it may be ok (how many of us have picked up our food off the ground and eaten it while camping?) but it is inadvisable and certainly not wise. If you are on a one or two night campout with a few close people you may get away with poor hygiene practices. Good hygiene is the best way to avoid illness in the backcountry. No matter how many times you may have gotten away with poor hygiene, a single incident of backcountry "funk" is usually enough to make you want to avoid it a second time. Not to mention it can be life threatening at times! Here are some guidelines to avoiding illness in the backcountry (and front country too).

Avoid spreading germs: just as your mom, or other parent figure likely told you a hundred times growing up, wash your hands! 

Use biodegradable soap to wash your hands and dishes. Any sort of camp soap will do such as castile soap. It is better for the environment and your own health. Use antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizer sparingly. They are bad for the environment and your long term health according to recent research. Humans have used them so much some bacteria are becoming resistant to them and this is creating super-bugs. So use when necessary but use sparingly. 

Wash your dishes regularly. Many campers get lax and just rinse their dishes. This is the perfect way to breed bacteria and get sick. Use hot water and soap at least once a day on your dishes when possible. 

Only cook what you will eat. It is best not to save leftovers, they go bad quickly and will attract unwanted animals and bugs. If you have uneaten leftovers it is best to bury them well away from your campsite. 

Boil your water. You should always filter water collected in the back country as even “clean” sources can get contaminated. Simply bringing water to a rolling boil is enough to kill most everything including viruses which most water filters miss. If the water source is questionable keep the water at a rolling boil for 3-5 minutes. 

Do not share anything that touches your mouth. This includes eating utensils, drinking utensils, and lip balm among other things. Sharing these is the fastest way to spread sickness while recreating outdoors. A person can become contagious before they even feel symptomatic so following this rule is of utmost importance. When in a group, use serving utensils to dish out group food items. Never let anyone put their personal spoon or fork into the group food. Pour food into people’s hands instead of letting everyone stick their dirty hands into your bag of trail mix or other food. Never eat or drink after someone. And never use someone else’s lip balm. If borrowing lip balm is a necessity, rub the top layer off with a clean tissue but know this is only partially effective at reducing germs. 

Keep sick people away from the kitchen. They may feel up to helping but it’s just not worth the risk of spreading sickness. Delegate other non-food related tasks to them or just let them rest. Everyone will be grateful. 

Wash your body regularly. Medical experts recommend washing your hands multiple times per day, your face once per day, and your underarms and private areas every 1-3 days. This should be done with soap and water or wet wipes. A full body shower or bath is recommended whenever possible even if only a sponge bath. Remember, never use soap directly in the water source (i.e. lakes, rivers, waterfalls) as this is harmful to the water life and contaminates your drinking source. Dump soapy water 200 feet from bodies of water and bury if possible. 

Wash your clothes frequently. It is best to avoid wearing underclothes (clothes that touch the skin) for more than 2-3 days. Change to clean ones. If possible wash the dirty ones out with water and use soap if available. If water and/or soap are unavailable, turn clothes inside out and let them sit in the sun for several hours. At least 1-2 hours on each side will help kill some bacteria assuming you have good direct sunlight and are not too far north or south. Wind is also a plus to reduce smell. 

Be vigilant about keeping wounds and injuries clean. A simple scratch can lead to major complications in the backcountry if it gets infected. Keep all wounds cleaned regularly and covered. Use triple antibiotic to help control infections. Get some first aid training to learn more about this. 

Dispose of biodegradable waste in a sanitary manner. This includes human waste, food scraps, and toothpaste. The proper method is to bury this waste in a hole 8 inches deep and 6 inches wide. The hole should of be 200 feet or about 75 steps from any water sources. Be sure to cover the hole when done. 

Carry a few trash bags. Hauling out your trash is important for the environment. But you don’t want your trash to make you sick or get your gear dirty. It’s good to carry a few empty plastic grocery bags or freezer bags to put trash in. I find they have other good uses too. 

Maintain interpersonal hygiene by treating everyone in your group with respect and humility. When spending a lot of time with a small group of people in the outdoors, tempers can flair easily. Left unchecked this can create a toxic environment that can ruin a trip and possibly become life threatening if tension leads to poor decisions. It is best to smooth things over by talking through them, staying humble, and apologizing when needed. You are all in it together.

Learn more about this topic by following this link about preventing illness while camping from the Minnesota Department of Health. Following the principles of Leave No Trace will help maintain good hygiene. Learn more about the 7 principles of low impact camping at this link.

Written by David F. Garner
Photo credit: jackmac34 via www.pixabay.com

Christian Outdoor Object Lesson 16: Compass Magnets

Key Text

"Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6 (WEB)


Lesson

The compass is a relatively new invention in the history of navigation. It has only been used for this purpose for about a thousand years. People have been navigating land and water for several thousands of years. Despite its relatively recent invention it is indispensable in navigation. The compass allows navigators to stay on course even in the midst of a storm when they cannot see where they are going.

The compass has many parallels with our spiritual journey. An interesting fact about the compass is that it is a tiny magnet. All magnets are attracted to each other at opposite ends or poles. The south pole of one magnet is attracted to the north pole of another magnet. Many people don’t realize that the end of the compass needle that points north is actually the south pole of the compass magnet.

This fact is a paradox. It does not seem correct at first, but it is true. There are many teachings in the bible that seem like paradoxes or contradictions. Some examples are God’s justice and mercy, Jesus is the lion of Judah and the Lamb of the world, Jesus said he is the Son of God and the Son of Man, Jesus had to die to give us eternal life. You have no doubt come across things in the bible that are complex, confusing, or appear to be contradictions.

The comforting thing is that we don’t have to understand all these things to receive Jesus and the salvation he offers. It is important to study and understand the mysteries of the Bible. There are pastors and bible scholars who can help us understand the complex things.

Do we need to understand why or how the compass needle works to be able to follow the needle pointing north? Of course not. Similarly, God does not require us to understand everything about the bible or salvation in order to be saved. As it says in Proverbs 3:5-6 we must not lean on our own understanding. All we have to do is trust that God knows what he is doing and will always point us in the right direction.


Questions

Do we trust a compass more than we trust God and his Word?

What paradoxes or complex things have you found in the Bible? What did you do to understand it better?

How do we know that God can be trusted?


Written by David F. Garner

Photo Credit: David F. Garner

Christian Outdoor Object Lesson 11: Shine Your Flashlight

Key Verse

"Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house." Matthew 5:15 (WEB)

Lesson

We don’t use candles much anymore today. When traveling outdoors they are not very useful. Instead, we use battery-powered lights such as flashlights and headlamps. Headlamps are very useful tools. They leave the hands free to complete tasks while still providing light exactly where it is needed.

In Matthew 5 we find the familiar Beatitudes Jesus preached during the Sermon on the Mount. In verse 15 Jesus is discussing the Light of the World. Jesus says that we are the light of the world in the previous verse. In His sermon, he makes a very valid point, when you turn a light on, you don’t cover it up. The same would go for a headlamp. You don’t turn it on and then stuff it back in your backpack; that would not do you any good. You could have left it at home and saved weight.

In this example the physical light represents the spiritual light of truth we as Christians have. The spiritual light is exactly what Jesus mentions earlier in this chapter in the Beatitudes—humility, kindness, mercy, peace making. What is funny, is that often, as Christians, we keep the light to ourselves. We read our bibles and go to church, but we keep what we learn to ourselves. We don’t display the light of truth at school or work through our actions. Sometimes our desire to fit in overcomes our desire to share the light we have received.

Its like we have a really nice, expensive headlamp, but instead of bringing it out at night to use around camp, we take it out under cover of our sleeping bags and just stare into it. That’s pretty stupid! We need to use our light and share the light with others.

Of course it is easy to know when you are using your headlamp, you can see the light. But sometimes it is hard to know if we are using our spiritual light. I mean we know when we are living a “good” life because we are not doing anything wrong. But how can we tell if we are sharing our light with other people? How do you know when you have been using your headlamp or flashlight? Of course, the battery starts to run low. You know you have been using it a lot when its time to recharge or change the batteries.

It is the same in our spiritual life. We can know if we have really been sharing our spiritual light when we feel the need to be close to God, to recharge. Jesus spent a lot of time alone in prayer to his Heavenly Father. Why was this? Because he spent a lot of time sharing light through his actions. When we openly practice humility, show kindness to the person others make fun of, have mercy on those who hurt us, and make peace with others, it will cause us to desire more time with God and in his Word.

Questions

What are some other ways to share the spiritual light we have?

Is it wrong to keep the light of truth we have to ourselves?

What are good ways to recharge our spiritual batteries?

Written by David F. Garner
Photo credit: David F. Garner

Christian Outdoor Object Lesson 10: Life's Map and Compass

Key Text

“Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 (WEB)


Lesson


What is the allure of backcountry travel and recreation? For many it is the unknown, the sense of facing uncertainty and overcoming. There is a challenge in going to an unfamiliar place and surviving. The challenge is thrilling and enlivening. There is always an inherent amount of risk. The key is keeping the level of risk manageable.

There are many tools used by outdoorsman to manage risk and overcome challenges. Wearing proper clothing, carrying shelter, using a water filter, and having a fire source are all essential, fundamental ways of overcoming obstacles. But perhaps the most fundamental and clearly necessary tools are the map and compass.

The map and compass are what make outdoor travel possible. They have been in use for thousands of years. They are still in use today, perhaps more than ever before. Today the map and compass may look different but are still used together in a digital form called GPS. There is a map on the screen and an electronic compass telling direction.

Map and compass are so fundamental for good reasons. They enable us to travel to a previously completely unknown destination and find our way as if we have been there a dozen times. A skilled navigator can even get completely lost in the wilderness and pinpoint their location on a paper map with observation of the surrounding area. Map and compass or GPS allow us to travel confidently into the unknown because we trust the information they provide to be correct and reliable.

Another word for trust is faith. Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the evidence of things not seen. Faith is trusting that the Map and Compass for our life are correct and reliable. When we read the Bible stories about God's faithfulness we can have trust or faith that his promises are reliable. The more we follow the paths and trails on a map, the more confident we become that the map and compass are trustworthy. As we walk the Christian path we learn from experience that God’s Word is faithful. 

As our faith grows, it becomes the assurance of things we hope for such as heaven and Christ’s soon return. As we experience God’s steadfastness to his followers our faith becomes the proof of things we cannot see such as God’s providence and protection.


Questions

Have you ever had to rely on a map and compass or GPS? If so, did you doubt their accuracy? Or did you doubt your ability to use them?

Have you ever doubted the reliability of God’s Word? Or maybe you doubted your ability to have faith in God’s Word?

Do you long to have the type of faith described in Hebrews 1 that gives hope for things not seen?

What can you do to improve your faith in a map and compass? What can you do to increase your faith in God and his Word?


Written by David F. Garner

Photo Credit: David F. Garner

Christian Outdoor Object Lesson 7: Cheating Scales

Key Verse

“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.” Proverbs 11:1 KJV

Lesson

You are preparing for a six-day backpacking trip in the mountains with a group of friends. You know you should not carry more than one third of your weight on your back. So you are doing your best to pack light. You have tried to only take what is absolutely necessary. You have all weighed your packs. Now you are planning your food for the trip. You all worked together to share food and come up with a menu to keep your food weight down. You and your group have estimated you each need 1.7 pounds of food per day. Because you already weighed your pack you know it should be 10.2 pounds heavier with the food.

As you shop you keep stopping by the produce section to weight your food items on the produce scale. You check out and leave the store happy you have achieved your goal. Then you get home and split up all the food between the group members. Everyone packs the remaining items and starts weighting their packs. They are quite a bit under weight! At first you are happy, until you realize why they are under weight.

You do not have 10.2 pounds of food in your backpack. This means your backpack might be lighter, but you do not have enough food for the trip. You will go hungry. You think back and try to figure out what happened. You recall that you weighed all the food on the store scale. There is only one explanation. The store scale was not accurate. It said the food was heavier than it really was.

Proverbs 11:1 says, “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.” In Bible times all food was sold by weight. Sometimes merchants would purposely make their scales inaccurate so they could cheat people out of money. Cheating is what God hates. The large grocery stores today would probably not purposely make their scales inaccurate. But if you discovered they did not check them and readjust them when they became inaccurate how would that make you feel? You would feel cheated of course. Cheating may seem harmless at first. Cheating in a game doesn't physically harm anyone, right? But cheating can cause real harm. This would become apparent when you started to run out of food before your backpacking trip was over. God hates cheating because it is dishonest. Cheating always causes harm. Honesty always brings delight.

Questions

How can we apply Proverbs 11:1 to our lives today?

Does being honest mean we have to say everything we are thinking?

How should a Christian treat a cheater?

How can you fix the cheating you have done in the past?


Written by David F. Garner
Photo Credit: David F. Garner

Christian Outdoor Object Lessons 3: Back to Basics

A Backpacking Parable (based on real events)

By David F. Garner

Lesson

As a boy I always enjoyed getting outdoors. I recall the first backpacking trip my dad took my older brother and I on when I was about twelve. It was to last three days. At the end of our road there was a large tract of forested land. A high ridge there had one side removed by dynamite to mine coal. The dynamite left a vertical wall on one side about 100 feet high. We creatively referred to it as the High Wall. On this occasion we set out on foot for the High Wall and surrounding wilderness for our weekend escapade.

As I packed I began thinking about all the things I had used when camping. I realized I only had some of them. ‘What if I need to cut fire wood or what if something breaks?’ I thought to myself. So I put in my hatchet and multi-tool with built in pliers and screwdrivers. Then another thought occurred to me, ‘what if I rip my clothes?’ So I put a needle and thread in the pile. I also added a role of duct tape because it is good for fixing many things.

‘Oh a pot!’ I remembered I would need that for cooking and boiling water. Going into the kitchen I got an old pot my mom didn’t use very often. On the way back I spotted my brother putting rope in his backpack. I thought to myself that I should bring some too, so I put it a large roll of rope. I worked on gathering stuff for an hour or two.

I am not sure how I fit everything I gathered into that pack. But after stuffing and cramming I fit everything in, including food and water. There was no space left. As my brother carried his pack into the living room I saw he had his machete strapped to the outside. ‘What if I need to cut branches out of the way on the trail?’ I thought. ‘I better take my machete too.’ So I tied mine onto the outside of the pack and half carried, half dragged it to the living room. There my dad had a scale so we could weight our packs.

“Sixty-eight pounds,” he said. “Wow, that’s a lot, good thing I am strong,” I said and took my pack to put in the van. What I didn’t know is that for a three-day trip, my pack should have weighted half of that.

The next morning was chilly. As I put my backpack on I noticed for the first time how heavy it was. I tried not to think about it. After praying for our trip, we set out towards our campsite destination near the High Wall.

At the end of the first day, I was ready to go home. I was sore and tired from carrying my heavy backpack. Supper that evening tasted better than any I had before. Also, we had a good view. One of the joys of backpacking is all the exercise makes meals taste so much better, especially when there is a good view of God’s creation.

On the last day, as we returned home, my dad asked me how much of my stuff I had actually used. Thinking it over, I began to realize that a lot of it stayed in my backpack the whole trip. My shovel and hatchet stayed in because my dad and brother brought theirs and we shared. I only wore half the clothes I brought because my clothes were clean enough to be warn multiple days. I only used a small amount of the sunscreen and bug spray I brought.

My dad taught me a lesson that day that is still ingrained in me today. Only carry what you need. If I had talked with my dad and brother about what they were bringing, I would have found out that we could share equipment. I would have learned what things I really needed and what things I didn’t. But instead I chose to try and figure it out on my own and ended up carrying a much bigger burden than I needed too.

It is the same in our Spiritual walk. Like Christian the character in Pilgrims Progress, we often don’t even realize what burdens we are carrying until we come to Jesus. If we let Him, if we read His Word and spend time with Him, He promises to make our burdens light. Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” NLT.