High Sierra Topix

We have the same problem in local parks and open space with dog poop. Owners are required to pick up and pack out their dog poop, and bags are provided at trailheads for that purpose. I see many of these bags, filled with dog poop, just left by the side of the trail. Maybe the owner planned to pick it up on his way out, or maybe, as this article on Whitney suggests, he "conveniently forgot". Either way, it's annoying.

Maybe the forest service and NPS need to charge a deposit for the WAG bags. Like $100 a bag. Bring it back, full or empty, get your deposit back. Then with the funds that come in from the non-returns, they can hire seasonal employees to find and carry out the bags left along the trail.

I don't understand why someone would "fill" a wag bag and then bury it under rocks. Just dig a hole and skip the bag If you are aren't going to carry it out.

Never been up Whitney and stories like this don't make me want to. New moto: Skip Whitney and avoid the crowds and the wag bags

They used to have an out-house up there. I think that was a better solution. It is expensive for the FS but they could have an extra fee that would support the work needed. There are out-houses in Yosemite at the top of Nevada Falls and in Little Yosemite Valley. It would be interesting to find out how Yosemite deals with them. Whitney may be too high an elevation for effective composting. I do not think you are ever going to get most people to carry out their wag-bags.

Regardless of the poop problem and crowds, I do not avoid Whitney - it is a good logistics choice, particularly as an exit since the exit permit is easier to get than entry. To me the outstanding scenery is also worth all the other problems. If I use the Whitney area, I camp at Consultation Lake instead of the higher base camp for climbing.

Wandering Daisy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 7:54 amRegardless of the poop problem and crowds, I do not avoid Whitney - it is a good logistics choice, particularly as an exit since the exit permit is easier to get than entry. To me the outstanding scenery is also worth all the other problems.

Yeah, this is accurate. The Whitney Zone is crowded (for the back country), and has some waste management problems. But it is also pretty spectacular. If you're "too cool" to visit the Whitney Zone because of these problems, you're short-changing yourself.

wildhiker wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2024 10:48 pm We have the same problem in local parks and open space with dog poop. Owners are required to pick up and pack out their dog poop, and bags are provided at trailheads for that purpose. I see many of these bags, filled with dog poop, just left by the side of the trail. Maybe the owner planned to pick it up on his way out, or maybe, as this article on Whitney suggests, he "conveniently forgot". Either way, it's annoying.

Yes, I routinely pick up dog crap in little bags left by others in my neighborhood. It's a really poor reflection on dog owners, and I've generally soured on our "my dog is my child" culture today.

John

wildhiker wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2024 10:48 pm We have the same problem in local parks and open space with dog poop. Owners are required to pick up and pack out their dog poop, and bags are provided at trailheads for that purpose. I see many of these bags, filled with dog poop, just left by the side of the trail. Maybe the owner planned to pick it up on his way out, or maybe, as this article on Whitney suggests, he "conveniently forgot". Either way, it's annoying.

People who don't pick up their dog poop are the same people who don't put shopping carts back in the parking lots.

Sounds like the makings of some children's stories.

Whitney the Poop.

[/quote]
Yeah, this is accurate. The Whitney Zone is crowded (for the back country), and has some waste management problems. But it is also pretty spectacular. If you're "too cool" to visit the Whitney Zone because of these problems, you're short-changing yourself.
[/quote]

I climbed Whitney, going out on the High Sierra Trail, and back via Colby Pass to Lodgepole, primarily because when I was five years old and visited Sequoia for the first time, I was completely enthralled by the TH sign at Crescent Meadow that stated 72 miles to Mt. Whitney (the current sign says 60). At Guitar Lake I chose a spot way up a creek far removed from the refugee camp below. Clearly not realizing I'm an anti-social hermit, late in the evening a couple jackasses set up their tent like ten feet away from mine. The next morning I woke up to one of said jackasses shitting in a bag, right outside my tent. When I summited Whitney later, the second I topped out some jackass on a cell phone was screaming, "Yo Brad, you'll never believe it bro! I get cell phone service up here!"

Needless to say, it was still the trip of a lifetime, and being lucky enough to summit on a completely clear day just hours after a major thunderstorm, the view was clear as a bell, and among the best I've ever seen. All this being said, I completely and totally understand why someone would want to avoid places like Whitney and Rae Lakes like the plague. I don't think it's a matter of being too cool, but rather if you only get a few days in the Sierra a year, it makes sense to want to seek solitude.