High Sierra Topix

I'm glad nobody's offendend. I do like to debate but I wasn't trying to push buttons.

I'm sure I'll be with the vast majority in that I won't be packing out my poo or filtering out the solids in my urine while walking in the Sierra. And I drive there and understand well the impact that this activity has on our wilderness. When it comes to coffee grounds I take them with me on the rare occasions that I bother brewing up for real but I'm still not convinced it's an important impact. Just another small one. An increment. I was chatting with a wilderness ranger of some sort in Yosemite a few weeks ago. He was complaining about how he'd go into the backcountry and run into the very same people he'd given permits to only to find them doing all of the things he'd explained to them (and that they'd apparently understood) were wrong and illegal. He was very frustrated about that. How do you reach people who think it's okay to litter at home or in the backcountry? It seems to me it's too late to educate and enforcement is virtually impossible.

Fire rings, litter, toilet paper, vegetation damage, exposed feces....

In that respect, coffee grounds aren't a big issue, not that I'm advocating dumping them.

VIA is the only way to go! Thus, no need to worry about grounds.

Hi PWS,

Welcome to HST!
Backpackers coffee article: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... fAfjlO5dcA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Great article

My rule is, always leave camp cleaner than I found it and never do anything that would cause harm if 10,000 people did it. Maybe Chic Bowdry could detect coffee grounds in my camp, but the way I disperse grounds I think you'd have to be able to read sign pretty well to tell any difference.

If I have a fire, I burn the grounds. If not, I carry them out. The only thing I bury is poop and if you do Whitney, you carry that out too.

There is no logical reason to carry out coffee grounds if they are disposed of discreetly

nothing really to add. just mesmerized by your signature..

and yes.. agree completely (er, coffee grounds).

Jimr wrote: I can't count how many times I've moved a rock in the high country just to find smeared poop.

I can. Zero. Maybe we should start spreading out.

An interesting Backpacking Light article. It doesn't mention my favorite substitute for ground French Roast (which I used to bring but no longer due to weight): Medaglia D'Oro instant espresso. It makes a strong cup of coffee and is lightweight. Agree that coffee is a necessity

SweetSierra wrote:An interesting Backpacking Light article. It doesn't mention my favorite substitute for ground French Roast (which I used to bring but no longer due to weight): Medaglia D'Oro instant espresso. It makes a strong cup of coffee and is lightweight.

It doesn't make any stronger a cup than any other instant coffee if you use the same weight of instant to the same amount of water.

Medaglia D'Oro is a lot cheaper than VIA. But try this at home. Make a cup from VIA and one from Medaglia and taste them side by side, black. To make them the same strength you'll need a good scale but unless you make them wildly different it probably won't matter that much.

When I did this I was surprised at just how big a difference there was. I don't drink Medaglia instant any more.