Human Waste Management on PCT

[XCskiNYC]

This question could cover any place where trails go through hot, dry country with very few trees (and thus few leaves). I'm thinking some of the southernmost sections of the PCT pass through desert areas.

It doesn't seem to me that a composting privy would work well in such a place.

So what type of device is used in the desert?

[Pedaling Fool]

Probably a good place for crap to fossilize. http://www.frankstehno.com/sagemesa/...ions/trash.htm

I imagine the desert would be a bad place for a privy; seems as though it would be perfect conditions for anaerobic decomp. without a lot of maintenance and adding of water.

[Mags]

FWIW, when I was in Canyonlands NP (high desert in Utah; similar in someways to the PCT desert in terms of climate. The Utah desert is more interesting, though. ) the official policy is to dig a cathole..but pack out the TP.

[A-Train]

There are really no devices or privies on the PCT at all. Pretty much everyone uses the cat hole and bury method. I know Yogi advocates for packing out used TP in her book because of the slow breakdown, but I never did this and I never knew anyone else who did.

[burger]

There are really no devices or privies on the PCT at all. Pretty much everyone uses the cat hole and bury method. I know Yogi advocates for packing out used TP in her book because of the slow breakdown, but I never did this and I never knew anyone else who did.

I packed my TP out. So did a decent number of other hikers I knew. It's really no big deal.

[Treefingers]

At the campsites midway up from the Whitney portal there are privies that have a solar powered fan that blasts the contents of the privy with hot air in the summer to help speed the decomposition of the contents of the privy. There's not many LNT options for the rest of the PCT as far as i Know... Digging a cat hole and filling it in along with putting a rock on top of it if available with help discourage animals from digging it up. thankfully for your waste, the uv light and heat from the desert speed up decomposition of waste much more quickly than in a privy or event a mouldering privy for that matter...

[XCskiNYC]

At the campsites midway up from the Whitney portal there are privies that have a solar powered fan that blasts the contents of the privy with hot air in the summer to help speed the decomposition of the contents of the privy. There's not many LNT options for the rest of the PCT as far as i Know... Digging a cat hole and filling it in along with putting a rock on top of it if available with help discourage animals from digging it up. thankfully for your waste, the uv light and heat from the desert speed up decomposition of waste much more quickly than in a privy or event a mouldering privy for that matter...

I wonder if that ever gets to be a problem on the PCT. I guess it would depend on the number of overnight users.

This Forest Service site says Mt. Whitney has so many visitors and is such a hard and dry environment (largely bedrock) that all human solid waste must be packed out.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreat...ackitout.shtml


To do so one may use a product such as this:

http://www.thepett.com/index.php?Pag...2=33&pageID=95


The Forest Service will provide climbers with pack out kits including "An absorbent powder [that] soaks up liquid, turning it into an odor-fighting gel." That sounds like it might fit into one of those fake TV commercials on Saturday Night Live.

[Miner]

There are really no devices or privies on the PCT at all. Pretty much everyone uses the cat hole and bury method. I know Yogi advocates for packing out used TP in her book because of the slow breakdown, but I never did this and I never knew anyone else who did.

More and more NPs and wilderness areas out west are requiring you to pack it out so its just easier to get in the habbit then not. In alpine and the more arid environments that the west is, TP doesn't break down very fast. In over-impacted areas, people are getting tired of finding exposed white flags in the wilderness.

It only requires carrying an extra ziplock for the dirty TP and it doesn't really add any weight. It gets dumped in the next trashcan/toliet that you come accross. And for the record, everyone that I hked with on the PCT this year packed their TP out assuming they even carried TP (and some didn't).

[sbhikes]

Here's what you do.

First of all, the "desert" part of the PCT is rarely truly desert. You're not hiking through the Sahara. You're not even hiking through Arizona or Utah. There are plants.

Carry a small squeeze bottle. Make sure it will squeeze out a good stream no matter what angle it's pointed.

In the Chaparral, which is what most of the so-called desert section is, you can use many of the sages for TP. I have found white sage to be nice. I imagine that chamise will do, too. Chamise is the most abundant plant you will see in the chaparral. Long, dry grass works very well. Just grab a handful and fold it over two or three times.

Wipe with the natural TP you have picked and then wash yourself with the squeeze bottle. Then use hand sanitizer on your hands liberally.

You won't have to worry about polluting the environment with TP. You won't have to carry it out, either. And anybody who thinks human poo shouldn't be out in the environment suffers from a delusion that there is anyplace in the world that is not out in the environment. Just take a stealth dump as far away from where someone might camp or find your poo, and bury it like they say to.

I've read about a good method that might work with a wag bag. Poo on a couple sheets of newspaper or other paper. Then wrap up your poo and put it somewhere, such as in your wag bag, to be disposed of later.

[Mags]

First of all, the "desert" part of the PCT is rarely truly desert. You're not hiking through the Sahara. You're not even hiking through Arizona or Utah. There are plants.

It is what is called HIGH desert. It is most definitely desert and the PCT goes through it. Last time I checked, the deserts of Arizona and Utah had plants, too.


PCT desert section



Somewhere on the Arizona Trail

Canyonlands National Park

The Sahara is just one of the most extreme forms of desert... (So is, for that matter, Antarctica! )
)

[sbhikes]

Yeah, but all you east-coasters make it sound like it's all desert all the way to Kennedy Meadows. There's a lot of forest in there, too. I don't even consider it high desert unless there are Joshua Trees.

[Mags]

Yeah, but all you east-coasters make it sound like it's all desert all the way to Kennedy Meadows. There's a lot of forest in there, too. I don't even consider it high desert unless there are Joshua Trees.

Yes..their are two relatively short islands of mountains (San Jacintos, San Gabs)..the rest is desert by definition. It is hotter, drier and sparser than the the Appalachians..or the San Jacintos for that matter. And, by defintion, it is also more fragile, too.

I have no dog in the fight about the TP issue..but let's not say "it ain't really desert". (Or that deserts have no plants? Huh?)

Whatever you may feel about what is desert and what is in it, Ma Nature disagrees.

Finally, not only do you have your own definition of a desert and what is in a desert..you apparently you have your own geography definitions, too. Colorado is not anywhere near the East coast.

[Meta]

I buried and didn't pack it out. I only knew one person who packed TP out. It's not very common, in my experience (2 thru-hikes) to see many people who pack it out. I think a lot of people don't really enjoy the idea of having a (however well-sealed) bag of excrement in the same pack as your food. That's definitely how I feel about it. As long as you ACTUALLY bury it in soil, and at a reasonable depth, burying is a fine strategy pretty much everywhere the PCT goes. Most of the PCT is not in super high use land (only a few spots, and even then, there's usually bathrooms of some variety or another there) and I've only once stumbled across someone else's waste and toilet paper, and that was because it wasn't buried.

As far as the PCT being desert, it's definitely desert. I think it comes from a misunderstanding that people develop because they hear people call it "the desert" and for people from the east coast they immediately think Gobi or Sahara. so when they don't encounter that, they immediately decide it isn't "truly desert" but really, just because it has some chaparral doesn't mean it isn't desert. And you definitely spend more time down low in the high desert in southern california than you do up in the cloud islands. But whatever, that's my opinion on it.

[guthook]

I never pack out TP out east, but I figure it's wet enough out here, and there are enough privies, that a few spots of buried TP aren't going to do huge damage. That said, "natural" wiping is always awesome.
So a question to you folks familiar with the PCT's "desert" section: how abundant are the leaves, grasses, etc. that can be used as alternatives to TP?

[mudhead]

http://www.treadlightly.org/images/e...ionsDesert.pdf

Where da wheez? I figured the smear was on.

[ShelterLeopard]

Just don't pick up anything in the middle of the night that has needles sticking out of it!!!

[Miner]

Let me be more specific, burying your TP is illegal in several places on the PCT. Just off the top of my head, I know it is illegal to bury in Sequoia NP, Kings Canyon NP, and Yosemite NP since I backpack there alot. I suspect that at least a few more individual forests/wilderness areas have similar rules.

I first started to see this rule when backpacking a in the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon NPs and it seems to be spreading to more places each year.

[giggles]

Let me be more specific, burying your TP is illegal in several places on the PCT. Just off the top of my head, I know it is illegal to bury in Sequoia NP, Kings Canyon NP, and Yosemite NP since I backpack there alot. I suspect that at least a few more individual forests/wilderness areas have similar rules.

In addition to the law it's just plane rude. I saw far too much toilet paper strewn about when looking for campsites. Animals have a very good sense of smell and can dig pretty well too. And unfortunately TP smells like food to them.

Pack the TP out or don't use it. I'm with Piper it's quite easy to use plants, river rocks, smooth sticks, etc. And washing with soap and water keeps one's butt clean and happy. Then you don't have the problem of needing to pack out your crappy TP.

[sbhikes]

I guess I don't consider it desert because here in Santa Barbara, which is all covered in chaparral, we call it "mediterranean". And I guess I simply recognize the chaparral as a distinct ecological community, different from the desert. I'm not alone in this understanding, except within the PCT hiking community, which insists on calling it the desert.

[Mags]

I guess I don't consider it desert because here in Santa Barbara, which is all covered in chaparral, we call it "mediterranean". And I guess I simply recognize the chaparral as a distinct ecological community, different from the desert. I'm not alone in this understanding, except within the PCT hiking community, which insists on calling it the desert.

Cripe Diane.. First you mix up geography (Colorado is on the East coast? Santa Barbara is on the PCT? It is also on the COAST. That may be why it has a Mediterranean climate. Did you hike the Pacific Coast Trail? ), now you are backpedaling.

It ain't the PCT community..it is a scientific definition. Less than 10 inches of rainfall a year!

Look up the link again. Look where the towns are listed. Notice anything?

My friend who grew up in Wrightwood may argue about the land surrounding her too.

Regardless of what personal definitions you have (and obvious personal sense of geography) the PCT area in question is fragile, is sensitive, and is prone to more ecological damage than the Appalachians or similar areas. Which is NPS, hikers, BLM etc is mandating packing out TP in similar areas with similar ecological concerns. Capish?


Anyway, I've said enough. I promise not to write anymore.

Now, if you'll excuse me..I'm going to get a drink in a East Coast bar in Boulder, CO.