G*d D**n PCTers

[gwschenk]

Pack out your damn TP!! And bury your turds!

[Seatbelt]

I thought they are supposed to pack out the turds on the PCT as well??

[AllDownhillFromHere]

I thought they are supposed to pack out the turds on the PCT as well??

On Whitney. Everywhere else is pack out your TP. Which a completely unscientific poll showed that I was the only one doing that.

[Seatbelt]

On Whitney. Everywhere else is pack out your TP. Which a completely unscientific poll showed that I was the only one doing that.

Ok thanks for the clearification.

[gwschenk]

I wish they'd all go back to the AT so they can use the privies. Obviously, these people have no freaking concept on how to **** in the woods. The PCT is becoming one big sewer.

[Sasquatch!]

Handling poop paper is disgusting, and a great way to spread disease. Bury your poopy butt paper with your poop. It's paper. Packing it out smears your poop on plastic and that poop smeared plastic ends up in the trash. Trash isn't a great place for poop to go. Poop, and things with poop on them, should go in the ground, or in a toilet.

If you want something to freak out about worry about deet, permethrin, microplastics, flame retardants, and water repellents. This is the stuff we leave along the trail that has the most impact. We don't see it, so it's not there. =p

[Venchka]

Explain that to The Man. Rule Makers always think they know best.
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[garlic08]

A few years ago I hiked the PNT, which shares a few miles of the PCT in the Pasayten Wilderness. I was looking forward to seeing a bit of the PCT again, but in those few miles I saw blossoms of TP all over the place. I share the OP's disgust.

[Mags]

TP blossoms are becoming a major problem on the popular trails. I did a weekend of trailwork on the CT. Unlike last year's project, I did not find a "surprise" under a rock. But the maintainers were actively cursing all the TP found on that, and other, CT sections.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Handling poop paper is disgusting...

Have you done it, and had a bad experience? or you personally find it disgusting, or are you simply saying this because it's poop and it's taboo and therefore everyone should be grossed out by it?

On the PCT this year I didn't find it disgusting at all; you use the TP, roll it into a self-contained little ball, and put it into your separate ziploc bag, the one that never goes IN your pack, the one with POOP written on it. If you see poop, or it gets on the inside of your ziploc, you're doing it wrong. Then, a few days later when you're somewhere with a toilet, you simply dump the little balls of TP out into the toilet, and flush. Easy peasy. The stuff does NOT biodegrade, and even in the desert, getting a nice, deep cathole is tough (rocks, roots, etc). Talking with the maintainers and angels who pack out the TP, tampons, and shriveled poops, it's a serious problem, so do your part.

[Traveler]

Handling poop paper is disgusting, and a great way to spread disease. Bury your poopy butt paper with your poop. It's paper. Packing it out smears your poop on plastic and that poop smeared plastic ends up in the trash. Trash isn't a great place for poop to go. Poop, and things with poop on them, should go in the ground, or in a toilet.

If you want something to freak out about worry about deet, permethrin, microplastics, flame retardants, and water repellents. This is the stuff we leave along the trail that has the most impact. We don't see it, so it's not there. =p

Many hikers manage that process without issue, perhaps you should learn how to handle TP without getting its contents all over you. There are fairly simple management techniques that can be and are used daily by a great number of people to ensure paper waste is removed to avoid it being dug up by others or animals that will increase the likelihood of illness in those who pass by. The incidence of disease from this waste is well documented globally and beyond debate.

Of course chemicals in the environment are a serious concern, however I have not seen any information on the residual effects of someone passing along a trail wearing DEET or having their clothing treated with permethrin. If any scientific information exists I would like to see that. Conflating this with human waste contact is rather like comparing the dangers of driving cars and skydiving.

[HooKooDooKu]

Have you done it...

Most of my hiking is done in GSMNP where burying TP is the norm (soil if VERY organic). So when I was planning a JMT thru hike, it was initially a moment of disgust when I learned I would need to pack out my TP.

But one of the surprises of my hike was how much packing out TP was NOT a big deal at all.
All it took was some practice at home to minimize TP quanity, pairing it with flushable wipes.

In my case, I fold the paper (rather than ball it). But the results are the same... you never touch anything you don't normally touch at home... and you never see really see anything once you put it away.

[nsherry61]

. . . Of course chemicals in the environment are a serious concern, however I have not seen any information on the residual effects of someone passing along a trail wearing DEET or having their clothing treated with permethrin. . . Conflating this with human waste contact is rather like comparing the dangers of driving cars and skydiving.

How could I resist:

According to the United States Parachuting Association, there are an estimated 3 million jumps per year, and the fatality count is only 21 (for 2010). That's a 0.0007% chance of dying from a skydive, compared to a 0.0167% chance of dying in a car accident (based on driving 10,000 miles).Sep 15, 2011

Of course, these statistics are being presented in a pretty biased manner since most people that skydive, I expect, do more than one jump per year, whereas the average person probably drives about 10,000 miles per year. If I read this right, at 24 jumps per year, and 10,000 miles driven per year, the odds become equal.

But then, if we compare time spent engaged in the activity, and the average sky dive lasts about one minute and the average driving speed is 30 mph, then then skydiving becomes about 1000 times more dangerous than driving. . . so how likely is one to die from skydiving vs. driving to the trail-head vs. being eaten by a bear?

[lonehiker]

How could I resist:

According to the United States Parachuting Association, there are an estimated 3 million jumps per year, and the fatality count is only 21 (for 2010). That's a 0.0007% chance of dying from a skydive, compared to a 0.0167% chance of dying in a car accident (based on driving 10,000 miles).Sep 15, 2011

Of course, these statistics are being presented in a pretty biased manner since most people that skydive, I expect, do more than one jump per year, whereas the average person probably drives about 10,000 miles per year. If I read this right, at 24 jumps per year, and 10,000 miles driven per year, the odds become equal.

But then, if we compare time spent engaged in the activity, and the average sky dive lasts about one minute and the average driving speed is 30 mph, then then skydiving becomes about 1000 times more dangerous than driving. . . so how likely is one to die from skydiving vs. driving to the trail-head vs. being eaten by a bear?

I've always thought that comparing any activity to driving a bit absurd as most people that participate in other activities usually drive, or are at least passengers and in as much risk, as well. It's not like I am a skydiver (or whatever) and you are a driver but rather I am a skydiver that also drives... But, back to the black bear thread and the idiotic posts going on over there.

[Old Hillwalker]

I subscribe to the technique the Scott Haze uses in one of the opening sequences of the movie "Child of God". Good old Cormac McCarthy's writing style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9vSmiw36Io

[MuddyWaters]

Assume proper squat that spreads cheeks

Collateral damage is minimized
Wipe arse with natural material

And you only need a couple square to polish
And they are pretty clean

Oatmeal also does wonders
Eating it, that is

[DLP]

I also share OP disgust.

My favorite backcountry poop clinic (Mike Clelland!) . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwmwxkD86Ec

Mike Clelland! - liberate yourself from TP http://ultralightbackpackintips.blogspot.com/2012/09/liberate-yourself-from-toilet-paper.html

Andrew Skurka poop instructions http://andrewskurka.com/tag/how-to-p...ountry-bidget/

[nsherry61]

Assume proper squat that spreads cheeks

Collateral damage is minimized
Wipe arse with natural material . . .

I'm still at a loss as to why people think they need TP, or even "natural material" for that matter, when water works so well. But, if we can't train N. Americans to manage their TP in the back country, I can't imagine ever getting them trained to clean their back side with water instead. Maybe all Americans should be required to live a year in India or France before being allowed in the back country.

[DLP]

I'm still at a loss as to why people think they need TP, or even "natural material" for that matter, when water works so well. But, if we can't train N. Americans to manage their TP in the back country, I can't imagine ever getting them trained to clean their back side with water instead. Maybe all Americans should be required to live a year in India or France before being allowed in the back country.

+1 to the water (with a tiny bit of soap). Also prevents chaffing, monkey butt and diaper rash.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

I'm still at a loss as to why people think they need TP, or even "natural material" for that matter, when water works so well. But, if we can't train N. Americans to manage their TP in the back country, I can't imagine ever getting them trained to clean their back side with water instead. Maybe all Americans should be required to live a year in India or France before being allowed in the back country.

India IS the back country.

Be careful, you might fall off that horse of yours.