Off in another thread, the mention arose:
What with the winter outing coming up in a month or so, and Harriman's notable lack of privies (they'd get filled with nondegradable trash in a matter of days, and eventually the maintainers just gave up), the question arises:
What do people do about keeping the commandment in Deuteronomy 23:13 when the ground is frozen solid? Winter weather does add some extra challenges to backcountry sanitation.
A few observations from a clueless weekender:
It's surprising how little you get chilled from exposing your fundamentals to the elements for long enough to do the deed. Holding back until you just can't hold back any more is surely more uncomfortable than just getting it over with.
A snowball is a surprisingly good way of cleaning up afterwards. It's more effective than paper, won't ever leave paper flowers by the trail, and is actually kind of refreshing.
You can sometimes find ground soft enough to dig in the mound where a tree has fallen over or under the lee side of a log.
Above treeline, you're probably best off (eeewwww!) using your trowel or something to smear the material as thinly as possible on a rock, so that the UV from the Sun will sterilize it.
What other good suggestions do people have? I understand that burying the material in snow is not a good idea - when the spring thaw comes, the waste will still be there, Are there other good ideas that the winter travellers have to offer?
TinMan wrote:
Maybe you prefer we talk about dumping on the trail. I don't mean dumping ON the trail - pretty sure that would be bad. I prefer a cat hole out of sight of the trail, but not in someone's backyard. Those latrines smell, have varmints, big hairy spiders and you can't see if someone is coming up behind you - even with the door open, which is how I dump on the rare occasion I use the privy.
What with the winter outing coming up in a month or so, and Harriman's notable lack of privies (they'd get filled with nondegradable trash in a matter of days, and eventually the maintainers just gave up), the question arises:
What do people do about keeping the commandment in Deuteronomy 23:13 when the ground is frozen solid? Winter weather does add some extra challenges to backcountry sanitation.
A few observations from a clueless weekender:
It's surprising how little you get chilled from exposing your fundamentals to the elements for long enough to do the deed. Holding back until you just can't hold back any more is surely more uncomfortable than just getting it over with.
A snowball is a surprisingly good way of cleaning up afterwards. It's more effective than paper, won't ever leave paper flowers by the trail, and is actually kind of refreshing.
You can sometimes find ground soft enough to dig in the mound where a tree has fallen over or under the lee side of a log.
Above treeline, you're probably best off (eeewwww!) using your trowel or something to smear the material as thinly as possible on a rock, so that the UV from the Sun will sterilize it.
What other good suggestions do people have? I understand that burying the material in snow is not a good idea - when the spring thaw comes, the waste will still be there, Are there other good ideas that the winter travellers have to offer?
I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.
