High Sierra Topix

Just use common sense. You need to be a "minimalist" with TP the same as you are a minimalist with equipment when backpacking. Twigs, rocks etc get most of the stuff off, and the TP is just the final wipe. Some people may do better with baby wipes rather than TP. Then carry out the TP or dispose of it in a HOT fire if you have one later in the trip. I have carried out 14 days worth of TP and it is not a big deal. Use a plastic bag plus a wag bag and it will be fine. I also "sun dry' the TP if needed - reduces the smell and the garbage weighs less.

My first concern is to avoid contaminating water. Obviously, do not go in a place where there is immediate runoff to a body of water. Burying avoids poo becoming part of surface runoff. An arbitrary distance from water may or may not do the trick. You may be 200 feet from a lake but if you go in a dry gully that will become a runoff channel at snowmelt, then you will still contaminate the water. And, DO NOT then wash your behind directly in the lake or stream after the deed to clean off the last bits!

Second is the aesthetics. Nobody wants to stumble upon or step in someone's poo or TP. In well used areas burying is the way to go (pun intended!). In very remote areas, I see nothing wrong with tossing poo in thick bushes or drop down a boulder field (provided that it is not going to be flushed into waters). Those who disagree need to convince me otherwise, with facts. By remote, I mean an off-trail area where only a handful of people visit. Anywhere along the PCT/JMT corridor is NOT remote.

If you are in a large group (say 6 people or more, particularly if base camping for days), I feel it is more efficient to dig a group latrine. This assures that everyone's waste is properly disposed of.

Everyone has a different digestive system. I am lucky in that I usually can time it so that I can do my duty away from camp, en route. I have been know to walk several hundred yards away from a trail to do my duty.

I think everyone should take a wag bag or two. Sometimes you "gotta go" and there just is not enough time to find an appropriate place. The wag bag is perfect for temporary transport.

I suspect a lot of human waste is dug up by animals. I do not know how to prevent that, other than the wag bag. I wonder if anyone has done a scientific study on the effects of animals eating human waste. I will admit that I am never going to haul out 14 days worth of waste in a wag bag!

Buy your backcountry TP at Walmart (or any camping or boat supply) in the RV section.

RV/marine TP is designed to rapidly dissolve in water. Regular brand name TP is made thicker and stronger, and often has fragrances and skin lotion added. Does not break down as well.

The down side -- you must keep RV/marine TP really dry in your pack. Even high humidity can start to break it down.

I suspect a lot of human waste is dug up by animals.

A good project for myth busters. I have my doubts about Sierra critters being interested in poop as a food source.

They could not keep the marmots from digging under the pit toilet up on Whitney... marmots absolutely adore human waste as a snack.

Freestone

I have no idea why they dig it up. But when a bc ranger I frequently encountered places where poop had obviously been burried but subsequently dug up with tp now on the surface.

m

There are vegetable starch based replacements for plastic bags and packaging that very quickly break down in landfill. I'd be willing to pay extra bucks for an environmentally friendly TP created specifically for camping and backpacking. If they can do it for bags and packaging, then it can certainly be done for TP, couldn't it?

freestone wrote:

I suspect a lot of human waste is dug up by animals.

A good project for myth busters. I have my doubts about Sierra critters being interested in poop as a food source.

Have you ever been on a farm? I've seen plenty of domestic animals eating poop, and they aren't lacking for food. Sierra critters are fighting for survival and don't overlook any food sources. Most poop still has a lot of nutritional value in it. To humans it smells bad and seems disgusting, but animals don't have those sensibilities.

Most animals eat poop. We have an aversion to eating crap for good reason but overall most animals eat s?!$. I have been inspired by these resent threads and the last two trips have used natural materials to wipe and finished off with a very small amount of tp. It works very good and I feel better about my contributions to the environment. Thanks to this site my views have adapted yet again.

Have you ever been on a farm?

I have been on a farm and have witnessed plenty of animals, mostly dogs, eating each others poop, but the High Sierra is not the farm.
Digging 6 inches into fragile alpine soil is not going to stop a determined sierra mammal with claws to dip up a midnight snack. Why bother?

Freestone, I have returned a year later to campsite areas where we've dug cathole trenches and marked them with rocks lined up over the top and found the rocks undisturbed. I've also seen an area near a packer's camp on the River Trail with a literal field that appeared to be growing ten TP plants. We haul out our TP and, frankly, eschew backpacking where we'd need to haul out the waste.

I think the "why bother" answer is that it's the responsible thing to do.