[pct-l] TP usage

[Ellen Shopes]

Finally, someone has vindicated my husband!  He has been burning his TP for 
years (I pack mine out), and even in the desert areas, with caution has 
never caused a problem.

Some advocate NOT digging a cat hole in dry areas like the desert.  The 
cryptogammic soil is very fragile and easily destroyed by digging and 
walking on it.  Instead, I poop on the surface near a bush well away from 
public use areas, and use a stick to move the poop under the bush where it's 
not an eyesore and won't get trampled.

I tested this at the Canyon one year, shortly after the book, 'How to take a 
poop in the woods' came out.  The poop desicated incredibly fast in the hot 
desert sun and turned to powder in less than a week.

Ellen
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Thoms" <wthomsjr at comcast.net>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 9:55 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] TP usage


> It seems that the LNT purists will urge others to go thru all kinds of odd
> practices - like carrying their own poop, etc., to avoid using TP.  In a
> place like the Whitney Zone, with almost no soil, vey heavy usage and no 
> or
> not enough latrines then poop bags and carrying out makes sense.  On the 
> AT
> in New Hampshire, however, the AMC maintains latrines, and even 
> helicopters
> out the sealed latrine tanks from AMC huts.  California ought to do the 
> same
> in high-use areas.
>
> I happen to think that poo on the hands is the cause of disease and death
> from disease in many parts of the world, and that Eastern customs of 
> wiping
> oneself with the left hand is unsanitary and unhealthy.  Millions of 
> people
> in said Eastern countries die each year from communicable diseases related
> to poor sanitation and fecal transmission of disease. To me TP and water
> sanitation is a huge leap forward for mankind in its battle against
> communicable disease.  I love TP, the extra soft luxury TP, and I pack it
> and use on the trail.
>
> This will not only horrify the LNT purists but when I tell you that I
> usually burn it in the cat hole I will be outraging the fire prevention
> folks too.  But if you visit my JMT hike web album at
> http://picasaweb.google.com/wthomsjr/2009JMTHikeAndWesternExcursions# and
> look at photos #102 thru #105 you will see what the Le Conte Canyon 
> Rangers
> do with their TP.  They burn it, at the same time as they urge hikers to
> pack out theirs.  Mmm.  No doubt this is because they don't trust us 
> moronic
> hikers with fire, even though open fires are legal below certain altitudes
> that the authorities in their various fiefdoms cannot agree on.
>
> Here's what I do to ensure sanitation, cleanliness and proper disposal.  I
> pack in a gallon zip lock bag my roll of extra soft luxurious TP, a BIC
> lighter, a very small vial of liquid soap and a small vial of 
> alcohol-based
> hand sanitizer.  I also bring a water bottle.
>
> I dig my 6 inch cat hole far, far from human activity. I really take a 
> walk
> away from the trail if I can.  Keep in mind that this isn't going to work 
> in
> places like Guitar Lake or Muir Pass, where there's very little soil or 
> none
> at all.  But then it's so open in these areas that if you're half smart 
> you
> won't be there without having first relieved yourself elsewhere.
>
> I dig the hole.  I open the zip lock bag. I take out the supplies and
> arrange them with lids off so I don't have to open them with potentially
> poo-covered hands.  I do my business in the hole, using a few sheets of my
> luxury TP.  I then wash and sanitize my hands. Then I light and burn the 
> TP
> in the hole, carefully watching.  I then use the water remaining from hand
> washing to thoroughly extinguish any embers remaining in the hole. 
> Finally,
> I carefully fill in and disguise the hole and pack up my kit and return to
> the trail or campsite.
>
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