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  1. #1
    Registered User Sunshine8's Avatar
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    Default Virus Concerns on the trail

    Just an FYI for all those trekking NOBO:

    http://wlos.com/news/local/experts-a...alachian-trail

    PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be mindful of other hikers' and your health:

    - Poop AT LEAST 200 yards away from any water source.
    - BURY it 6" deep.

    Stay safe all!

  2. #2

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    Contaminated water is not the issue here. Contaminated hands is the problem. Yes, bury your poop properly and then wash your hands afterwards and before eating. Don't share food or water bottles, don't shake hands.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sunshine8 View Post
    Just an FYI for all those trekking NOBO:

    http://wlos.com/news/local/experts-a...alachian-trail

    PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be mindful of other hikers' and your health:

    - Poop AT LEAST 200 yards away from any water source.
    - BURY it 6" deep.

    Stay safe all!
    Better yet, use the privies. You pass 2 per day most days. Most people poop once per day. No brainer.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 03-24-2016 at 16:41.

  4. #4

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    Good posts so far. Can't stress enough the importance of decent hygiene and keeping ones self clean. As others have said, wash them hands, especially after visiting the privy. Most intestinal illness on the trail is caused not by bad drinking water, but instead by hand-to-mouth fecal contamination, which is every bit as disgusting as it sounds. So get some hand sanitizer and use it frequently. Also, yeah, avoid shared food, especially if it involves reaching into a ziplock bag. That home-made jerky someone's just offered you might look great, but you might want to give a thought to the six hands that were in that bag just ahead of you and where they've been recently. Likewise, lots of folks sit down at the shelter picnic table, make their lunch, and read the Trail register as they eat. Once again, remember as you turn the pages, give a thought to where reader people's hands have just been. Wash your pots and utensils with soap and hot water whenever you can, like at hostels or motels. If you use a pot scrubby, replace it regularly, they can get disgusting. Clean or replace your water bottles regularly if they're cheap, like Gatorade or Smart water bottles. If you use Nalgenes, clean them regularly, especially the neck rings that accumulate all sorts of mung. Also if you use a hydration bag and tube, clean it regularly, too. Best thing is a little baking soda and warm water and let it soak for a bit. And finally, avoid shelters when possible. They're often filthy; have all sorts of rodent filth; and you'll sleep better and healthier when you're not surrounded by eight other people whose level of hygiene may well be worse than your own. Anyway, be safe, stay healthy! Hey, forgot one thing.....if you're in a hostel that offers you a kitchen, take a minute and wash all the utensils and plates before you use them; hikers are really lousy when it comes to washing kitchen stuff, especially guys, I can't tell you how many times I've seen people "wash" their pots and plates with cold water, or maybe not use soap, etc. So take a minute and protect yourself.

  5. #5

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    Last summer I did a day hike from neel gap to hog pen, before I made it out, pain in my abdomen, the green apple splatters, and it lasted two days. The guy who was with me had no problems. The next day, halfway back to Atlanta, I blew a tire, no jack or spare, that wasn't fun considering my stomach was killing me. Just a thought.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by BubbaGump View Post
    Last summer I did a day hike from neel gap to hog pen, before I made it out, pain in my abdomen, the green apple splatters, and it lasted two days. The guy who was with me had no problems. The next day, halfway back to Atlanta, I blew a tire, no jack or spare, that wasn't fun considering my stomach was killing me. Just a thought.
    Just another thought. Its not likely you contracted anything on the trail that would cause that level of reaction for that long. That was probably a norovirus you picked up from shaking hands or from a surface (door knobs, counters, dishes, stair rails, etc) someplace several days prior to the day hike. It could also have been food borne, which can take anywhere from 24-36 hours to 10 days to appear.

  7. #7
    Registered User Sunshine8's Avatar
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    Default

    Good talk and recommendations. Just happened to run over the news story and wanted to share with those regularly checking the forum.

    Understandably so (and maybe I should have clarified previously), the virus is not passed through contaminated water, just have a thing for those who don't follow Leave No Trace principles when enjoying #2 in the woods. I have a dog that likes to investigate unburied poop, which in turn can put me and other hikers on the trail at risk for sicknesses, given that she gets a chance to roll in it.

  8. #8
    Registered User Sunshine8's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MuddyWaters View Post
    Better yet, use the privies. You pass 2 per day most days. Most people poop once per day. No brainer.

    SO TRUE Muddy Waters!

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by MuddyWaters View Post
    Better yet, use the privies. You pass 2 per day most days. Most people poop once per day. No brainer.
    privies are disgusting. avoid them

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sunshine8 View Post
    Good talk and recommendations. Just happened to run over the news story and wanted to share with those regularly checking the forum.

    Understandably so (and maybe I should have clarified previously), the virus is not passed through contaminated water, just have a thing for those who don't follow Leave No Trace principles when enjoying #2 in the woods. I have a dog that likes to investigate unburied poop, which in turn can put me and other hikers on the trail at risk for sicknesses, given that she gets a chance to roll in it.
    keep your dog on a leash

  11. #11

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    I think your right traveler. I remember coming back the day I blew the tire to pick up my ole lady, her stomach was messed up too. I don't remember shaking anyone's hand, except this Vietnamese guy who gave me a moonpie. .his answer to every question was "7 mile".

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    privies are disgusting. avoid them
    A necessary element today on the AT, though years ago they were few and far between. Not a lot of folks demonstrate cat hole craft well, if what I see around me at times is any indication. Imagine the forest full of crap where you literally would have to watch every step off (and on) the trail. Privies reduce that level of human impact and consolidate human waste to one place. And because they are designed for that specific use, its hard to use one and not think about washing up.

  13. #13
    Registered User seminoles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Traveler View Post
    A necessary element today on the AT, though years ago they were few and far between. Not a lot of folks demonstrate cat hole craft well, if what I see around me at times is any indication. Imagine the forest full of crap where you literally would have to watch every step off (and on) the trail. Privies reduce that level of human impact and consolidate human waste to one place. And because they are designed for that specific use, its hard to use one and not think about washing up.

    Maybe be so but after a week in Georgia the privies are a nasty breeding ground with crap slung all over the walls and floor, I would avoid at all costs. Also way to many unleashed dogs running up to you with crap all over them.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    privies are disgusting. avoid them

    Better than cat fields

    People that camp with others, crap with others.

    Mollies ridge cat field should be illegal.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 03-26-2016 at 10:02.

  15. #15
    Registered User evyck da fleet's Avatar
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    Default

    It doesn't surprise me that noro usually pops up right after the Smokies considering the cat fields and tenting required around full shelters.

    Also be waring of handing your phones to someone else to take a picture for you or if you are inclined to indulge in sharing shall we say 'hiker cigarettes' along the trail.

  16. #16

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    Stop eating each other's poop. Its pretty simple, but for some reason every year there are hikers smearing their poop all over the shelters, registers, privys, and food before sharing all of the above with every hiker they meet.

  17. #17
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    Contaminated water is not the issue here. Contaminated hands is the problem. Yes, bury your poop properly and then wash your hands afterwards and before eating. Don't share food or water bottles, don't shake hands.
    +1 to this. Last year doing trail maintenance I quickly came to realize the new hand shake is a fist bump. That happened quite often as I conversed with passing thrus.
    "Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L’Amour

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