The time of the month

[Jim&Annette]

We are new to the trail. Are there any problems during the time have a period on the trail. Do wild animals pick up a scent? Is there any danger? What do you do with the pads or tampons?

[CherrypieScout]

It just happens. Pack out the tampons. Use lots of hiney wipes - pack them out. Once I attempted to burn the tampon trash. Horrible smell!!

[Jim&Annette]

Thank you for your response. I just read further on in the forum and saw Granola Girl had the same question with alot of answers. What a great forum.


I did not see anything about wild animals being able to pick up the scent.

[Blissful]

I had no problem at all with wild animals. In fact, I hardly saw any wild animals on the trail, actually. One bear in PA minding his own business. Multiple rattlesnakes. Some timid deer. And pesky squirrels and chipmunks.
Maybe out west you'd run into more problems. I think animals are scared of the AT, to be honest.

[sonic]

First of all . Fortunately I don't have to deal with this anymore, but back in the day it was just one of those things that happens. I have never had any trouble with animals and the scent. Just be sure to pack everything out. Who ever invented the hiney wipes should win the Nobel prize!

[Dancer]

If you are on the pill just skip the placebo week and go straight into the next pack. My doctor says that it is perfectly safe to do this occasionally and even ok'd it for a thru. Check with your MD of course. No period would seem to be the most logical way to handle it.

[take-a-knee]

I remember seeing signs in McKinley Park in AK warning menstruating women to stay out of certain areas because of grizzlies. Just food for thought, I'm not saying you shouldn't hike then, I am saying scent control of yourself and all used feminen products might be in order in a lot of places. The most scent proof bags I've found are those polyester oven bags, I was given a bunch of them many years ago and I used them to pick up dog pooh, you can't smell anything through them.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Welcome to the forum. There is a lot of good info about dealing with your period in this thread