What to do when stepping off trail for potty break?

[Wise Old Owl]

Bizarre thread. We can discuss this but keep in mind she made mistakes that anyone can make when following blazes and not keeping a basic compass such as where the sun is, and it was July. IF its noon - where is it? Yea it tragic... We can do What if? allot! basic survival skills and an ability to walk out is the backbone that a few thru hikers ignore.

[Trailweaver]

I keep a bandana tied around my head a lot as a sweat band (or if not hot, in my pack, handy). If I have to go off the trail far, I would tie it to a branch of something and walk straight from there. Really, I rarely go far enough off the trail that I couldn't see it. You could also do as someone else suggested - make a mark in the leaves or dirt with your hiking stick, or pile a few rocks in an arrow along the way.

[daddytwosticks]

I use trekking poles. I walk some distance off the trail and stick my pole in the ground where I can still see the trail. Then I walk some distance from that implanted pole such that I can still see that pole. Then I lay my second pole on the ground pointing towards the implanted pole. Then I drop my drawers and do my business. Just be creative and use your hiking poles to mark your path.

[Pedaling Fool]

I agree with the many that say, Never leave your pack unattended, take it with you -- I would never leave it on the trail while I do my biz. This raises an interesting question. What's the furthest one should allow their pack to be separated for their person? Please provide specific answer

[MuddyWaters]

I agree with the many that say, Never leave your pack unattended, take it with you -- I would never leave it on the trail while I do my biz. This raises an interesting question. What's the furthest one should allow their pack to be separated for their person? Please provide specific answer

Arms length.

In bear cannister areas if you have food/smellables not in cannister, they can be no more than arms length. I.e. under your direct control at all times. Good practice to follow anywhere.

[saltysack]

Great...now folks going to be afraid to sh$$ in the woods.....don't worry about stepping in dog crap on the trail....now people will be squatting on trail so they don't get lost...


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[JohnHuth]

now people will be squatting on trail so they don't get lost...

Please, NO!!! Go the 200 feet or more. Stay away from water sources. Make a deep cat hole. Bury it thoroughly. Think of your fellow hikers. It's a high use trail.

As much as we're all haunted by Inchworm's story, it's an anomalous event. Develop some basic map-and-compass skills. Revel in the art of leave-no-trace - take it on as a challenge, an art-form to be mastered.

[Malto]

Bizarre thread. We can discuss this but keep in mind she made mistakes that anyone can make when following blazes and not keeping a basic compass such as where the sun is, and it was July. IF its noon - where is it? Yea it tragic... We can do What if? allot! basic survival skills and an ability to walk out is the backbone that a few thru hikers ignore.

Agree^^^ it's not that hard, pay attention to the sun, slope, terrain etc.

as far as pack, I take my pack everywhere, water, poo etc. I have seen so many packs on the side on the trail or left alone at a shelter with nobody in sight. Thankfully for them I wasn't a bear or someone who wanted more stuff.

[Greenlight]

Goes along with the philosophy that we don't own our possessions, they own us. Arm's length is common sense when you are in an area where you have to be concerned, not so much about the other hikers, who understand that the contents of your pack are the only thing separating you from some really bad scenarios. Wildlife and opportunistic miscreants will gladly separate you from your stuff without a moment's notice.

Arms length.

In bear cannister areas if you have food/smellables not in canister, they can be no more than arms length. I.e. under your direct control at all times. Good practice to follow anywhere.

[MtDoraDave]

Not trying to be mean or demeaning, but one has to be honest with his or herself; if your sense of direction is poor, hiking alone is something that you should really think twice about. Having a hiking partner who stays on the trail to yell to if you get disoriented is much more helpful than a compass would be if you don't know where you are.
I think it's safe to say that none of us want to see piles of poo or paper or wipes that don't disintegrate right on (or within a few feet of) the trail. It's selfish, disrespectful, and gross. We spend time in nature for our own reasons, but I'm pretty sure none of us want to see (or smell) that.
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No, I'm not perfect. I have stepped off a couple trails here in FL either taking a shortcut or to visit a place (lake, pond, etc) that isn't on the trail. Google maps will often work without cell signal - and it worked out for me both times - but to rely on it 100% is unwise for a number of reasons.
Once, in the Citrus Tract, my hiking partner and I took one of the forest roads to shortcut to a horse trail that leads to Tillis Hill campground. After about 100 yards, we decided that hiking in the sugar sand of the road was less desirable than staying on the trail, so we cut back diagonally through "the bush" to get back on the trail. We had a map, so what's the danger? Somehow, we crossed right over the trail - we both missed it - and eventually used the gps via google maps to find our way.
The other time, we did indeed find that lake, and knew that we needed to go "to the right" (east) once we got to it to find the old campground that the trail skirts (we planned on camping there overnight) - but it was slow going, loaded with ticks and chiggers, and finding the trail even after we got to the campground was time consuming. Again, google maps helped because it showed us where we were (and many trails show up on google maps if you zoom in far enough) ... My point is that it's quite possible to get turned around when twisting and turning to avoid thick brush, bogs, etc. Having a hiking partner, even if you both get disoriented, will help reduce the likelihood of panic - which is the least desirable thing in those situations.

[Christoph]

I just leave my pack on the side of the trail and get out of sight. Maybe a little further is no 2 arises. A bear incident is too far and between for me to worry about and I'm surely not too worried about people running off with a fully loaded pack. Maybe take your valuables with you? I dunno, I never really worried about it much.

[pilgrimskywheel]

Wow. If you need a compass and markers to poop...I don't know - you're chances are not good. If you think being within "arms reach" of your pack will save it from a bear...I don't know - you may be a virtual hiker. What's the game plan there? Karate? Or, you're going to whip out the big gun we heard so much about yesterday? Yeah, shoot a bear and see what happens to you - you'll get to be confetti. If a bear wants your pack he'll be taking it. And by the way - you smell like food, not just your Snicker Bars. It's the AT folks, not a first person shooter zombie video game. Stepping off the trail didn't kill Inchworm - apparently sitting off the trail for 26 days did.

[Maydog]

If you are a person that knows that you have a terrible sense of direction, or you are prone to wander off-trail without paying attention to how to return, then have a plan B. The trekking pole options are good. Another option is to carry a roll of nylon twine. Tie it to a branch near the trail and unroll it to your poo parlor. After the download, just roll it back up as you make your way back to the trail. It can be useful when camping too. Kite string would be even lighter and cheaper, but wouldn't be good for much else.

[Malto]

If you think being within "arms reach" of your pack will save it from a bear...I don't know - you may be a virtual hiker. What's the game plan there? Karate? Or, you're going to whip out the big gun we heard so much about yesterday? Yeah, shoot a bear and see what happens to you - you'll get to be confetti. If a bear wants your pack he'll be taking it.

Really? There are an awful lot of very experienced "virtual hikers" that would disagree with you. I have yet to hear about a bear taking a hiker's pack off their back, just had a thread a month ago about multiple bears getting into an unattended pack, complete with video. And the hiker with the chewed pack had a gun. Your single paragraph had more head scratchers than most entire threads.

[Theosus]

This thread is getting crapped on a bit, but it's a legitimate question with simple answers.

Just take a very simple route to do your business. You can point toward the trail with your hiking pole if it helps re-orient

You can't get lost 100 ft from the trail if you do that.

Do not go 100 ft away from a section that winds all over the place and is confusing! If it's simple terrain, you won't get lost.

I did that very thing. I had to take a dump and the first section I came to that was decent, was kind of where the trail (foothills trail, not the AT) suddenly doubled back almost on itself and went around a bend. I walked straight off the trail uphill to a big pine tree and did my business. When I came back down I could not find the trail. I stayed in sight of the tree and did an arc back and forth. Nothing. Finally pulled out the GPS and found the green line that marked where I had been walking, and backtracked. I was nervous there for a minute. It turned out I wasn't far off the trail. I kept my pack with me, but I'm thinking of carrying a bright bandana from now on (my normal one is black) and clipping it to a tree right on the trail.

[MuddyWaters]

Wow. If you need a compass and markers to poop...I don't know - you're chances are not good. If you think being within "arms reach" of your pack will save it from a bear...I don't know - you may be a virtual hiker. What's the game plan there? Karate? Or, you're going to whip out the big conservative gun we heard so much about yesterday? Yeah, shoot a bear and see what happens to you - you'll get to be confetti. If a bear wants your pack he'll be taking it. And by the way - you smell like food, not just your Snicker Bars. It's the AT folks, not a first person shooter zombie video game. Stepping off the trail didn't kill Inchworm - apparently sitting off the trail for 26 days did.

A bear doesnt want to fight you for anything. But if you leave it sitting around its fair game, even 15 ft from you. You can find posts on here from hikers that had pack taken while they were setting tent up, in plain view of a dozen people. Packs taken off of pegs in shelters while they slept. Packs taken out of vacant tents 5 ft from sleeping people. Conditioned bears are largely opportunistic sneak thieves. But once they got it...its now theirs and they will fight you for it. Doesnt have to do wirh smell, they have learned to associate packs with good stuff.

In some places like yosemite some bears have learned that they can scare people away from packs and open bearcans, especially if they can get between it and person. It is your responsibility to protect the bear by not giving it the chance. Or stay home.

[rafe]

In four decades of meandering through eastern (and some western) woods, I've never had any critters try to make off with my pack. I leave my pack by the trail when I take my pit stops. Maybe that's living dangerously, I dunno. Not recommending it, it's just been my habit.

I did have some humans steal my pack out of our car, in Morocco. The pack was recovered, minus most of its useful contents.

As for potty breaks -- 99% of the time there's no worry. But I've had a few tense head-scratching moments finding my way back to the trail. It happens. Keep your wits about you. Don't thrash, stop and think. As you're walking away from the trail, look behind you often, take mental notes and snapshots of the landscape. Especially on a cloudy or rainy day when there's no sun to give you a sense of direction.

It's not rocket science but the woods are not our natural home, not for a few tens of thousands of years, anyway. We don't have the sense of smell, homing instincts or the keen vision of many woods critters. We just have our big brains. Things we don't know or understand, all start "looking the same."

[Lone Wolf]

Lone Wolf to you this may be a stupid thread but not to me! A woman became lost and ultimately died as a result of making a simple mistake such as this. If you find it stupid then please refrain from posting. That is an option you know!

i highly doubt she was goin' to pee, got lost and died. in my 30+ years on the AT i never heard of anyone gettin' lost this way

[Pedaling Fool]

...If you think being within "arms reach" of your pack will save it from a bear...I don't know - you may be a virtual hiker. What's the game plan there? Karate? Or, you're going to whip out the big conservative gun we heard so much about yesterday? Yeah, shoot a bear and see what happens to you - you'll get to be confetti. If a bear wants your pack he'll be taking it. And by the way - you smell like food, not just your Snicker Bars...

So, you got one of them levitating packs or maybe you have drone deliver your pack to you

[Pedaling Fool]

In four decades of meandering through eastern (and some western) woods, I've never had any critters try to make off with my pack. I leave my pack by the trail when I take my pit stops. Maybe that's living dangerously, I dunno. Not recommending it, it's just been my habit.

Let's not forget that, thanks to our conservation efforts, a lot of animal populations are rebounding. I remember so many animals that were endangered when I was a kid, but virtually all of them are coming back strong -- that's a good thing, but there's always a little bad that comes along with the good, just a fact of the universe.