You’ve Got to be Sh@#&ing Me! I Have to Carry My Poop?!
May 30th, 2011
It has been a while since we posted a blog about poop - probably since Bear Grylls ate bear poop. So it is time to give the scoop about carrying your poop when in the backcountry. Many backcountry environments are very fragile, or just very populated, which makes it necessary to require certain regulations when it comes to human waste disposal. As more people venture into the backcountry, the great outdoors will continue to have serious environmental, health and aesthetic impacts.You may already be aware that most areas ask that you do carry out your used toilet paper and for many people this is unappealing and comes with the question of why would so few people make that much of a difference? Think back when you were a kid and you used to toilet paper houses - or you were on the other side of the fence on that scenario. Not a pretty site and you and your neighbors alike were probably less than thrilled if the TP stayed for an extended period of time. No imagine the same decorations in the wilderness with less means to clean it up. Not attractive and this TP probably has been used.
I digress. Many high use areas such as Mount Rainier, Mount Shasta, Denali, Mount Hood and Paria Canyon in the Arizona/Utah desert require you to pack out your waste. These are high use areas or areas that decomposition is quite slow. Or, if you are in a place such as Paria Canyon, a desert environment where decomp is very slow and the flash floods that hit the area several times a year make the river much like a toilet you just flushed (especially along the confluence of Paria River and Buckskin Gulch). So, what would you rather do...carry your own poop or swim in other people's excrement. Carrying your own does sound bad, and if not done correctly, could have some pretty nasty consequences; which is why there are products on the market to make carrying your poop a bit more bearable.
The WAG (Waste Alleviation and Gelling) Bag has become the overall term for any pack-it-out bag system (kind of like Kleenex when referring to tissues). The system generally involves one bag which you glove your hand and grab your business and another sturdier, sealable bag in which you deposit and seal the "dump." Not much different than picking up after your dog, so quit making that face! Other systems allow you to line the cat-hole with a bag and you just squat and do your business. This eliminates that step of having to grab your stuff - assuming you have great aim and get it in the bag the first time.
The bags include a biodegradable waste pick up bag loaded with Poo Powder (a chemical that gels the more liquid waste, breaks down solids and controls odors), transport bag, toilet paper and hand sanitizer. For more information and further reading, you can check out the WAG bag website, or look into a couple other manufacturers of waste bags, such as, ReStop and Biffy Bags.
So, regardless of how you feel about carrying your poop, it beats constipation!
