Does a Hiker S*%! in the Woods?

Poop.  Everyone does it.  Nobody likes to talk about it.  As a hiking and backpacking guide, going to the bathroom in the woods is one of the most common talks I have to give.  People don't know how to do it and are too embarrassed to ask.  When I first started giving the bathroom talks I kept it pretty simple because I thought that people would pretty much figure it out on their own.  It turns out that simply isn't the case.  With more trail traffic than ever, especially living in the area of the most visited National Park in the country, teaching people proper bathroom habits in the outdoors is more important than ever.  Here's my take on everyone's least favorite trail topic. 

The Tools

Before we even delve into using the bathroom in the woods, first we need to talk tools you'll need before you head out there. I cannot stress enough how useless those plastic orange shovels you see hanging on the back of every backpack and all over the camping department at Walmart, Dick's, and every other big box store in America truly are! Those plastic orange shovels can be used, sure. They're also bulky, heavy, and not so great at moving rocks or roots (spoiler alert - there are lots of rocks and roots in the woods).  Skip that shovel and use the Mac Daddy of all trail shovels - The Deuce of Spades. Yeah it's expensive.  It also is less than an ounce and is strong as... well, strong as you know...  Don't want to drop the cash?  You have something in your backpack you can use as well.  A tent stake!  I normally carry an extra tent stake right down inside my roll of toilet paper.  It's always there when I need it.  I normally carry my toilet kit in an outside pocket of my pack, right on top, so I can grab it and go.  I pack it in a gallon freezer bag with the toilet paper, tent stake, baby wipes (for long-distance hiking), and an extra quart sized bag to pack out my toilet paper (more on this in a minute). If I'm day hiking, I have hand sanitizer in my toilet kit as I use antibacterial baby wipes on longer hikers and just use those instead. 

My backpacking toilet kit. 

The Technique 

Bathroom technique in the woods is a little bit different than it is in the civilized world.  The first step in using the bathroom in the woods is deciding you need to use it!  The second step is finding a place to go.  When it comes to using the bathroom in the woods, especially for pooping in the woods, you need to get off trail.  Proper Leave No Trace ethics state you should go 200 feet from the trail, campsite, or water.  In regular terms, this means count out 80 steps and get away from things.  Since you need to get away from others, it's important to not wait until the very last minute to go!  Proper planning helps out here.  If you're new to using the bathroom outdoors, I recommend finding a rock or a tree to brace yourself in the squatting position.  It will not only help keep you balanced, but it will help you get back up out of the "position" as well.  

Now that you're off trail and ready to go, it's time to go!  Many people will dig their hole first, but I don't usually advocate this.  Usually because you want to make sure the hole will be deep and wide enough for proper waste disposal.  I recommend doing your business first and digging the hole afterward.  A proper cathole should be 6-8 inches deep for a few reasons - it will be deep enough to cover everything and deep enough to let the waste naturally decompose. If you've waited to dig the hole afterward, you can use your toilet paper or a leaf or a stick to help you get it into the hole.  If you're using a leaf or a stick, make sure these things go into the hole as well.  Toilet paper and feminine hygiene products do NOT go into the hole and need to be packed out.  Bury the human waste and disguise the cathole by covering it with leaf litter if possible.  Many trail maintenance crews do not advocate using rocks to disguise your cathole site because it encourages people to get lazy and just cover their poo with the rock.  Trail crews often move rocks to do maintenance projects and see more human waste than any one person ever should.  Please do not use rocks to cover your holes!

Why Do I Need to Pack Out Toilet Paper?

I hear this one a lot and different people will give you a different answer on whether or not you should pack toilet paper out.  Quite simply, toilet paper (if it even gets properly buried) takes a long time to decompose.  Even biodegradable toilet paper and wet wipes should be packed out.  Using a freezer bag with some baking soda in it will keep odors from packed out toilet paper to a minimum and the smell will not escape into other areas of your pack.  Another plus side of packing out toilet paper is the fact that you'll probably run across a privy while you're out on your hike and you can dump it in the privy (but not wet wipes - never dump wipes into a privy!)

Feminine Hygiene Items

Pads, liners, and tampons should never be left in the backcountry.  Period.  These items need to ALWAYS be packed out and never dumped in the privies.  If you're thinking of doing a long-distance hike I highly recommend looking into getting a menstrual cup, like a Diva Cup or a Lady Cup.  I started using them over 10 years ago and I highly recommend them for distance hiking.  If you're using a cup, you'll bury the waste just as you do with a cathole, rinse the cup with water, and reuse.  You can learn more about making the switch to a cup here.  You can properly clean the cup when you get into town.  They come in a cotton storage bag and I've never had problems taking them on distance hikes. 

Hand Hygiene Afterward

I wrote a post back in February 2016 about trail hygiene with a section about hand sanitizer and hand washing.  While it's important to use sanitizer after using the bathroom, a good hand washing as often as you can is also incredibly important to fight against norovirus and other illness.  

With a little bit of knowledge beforehand and a little bit of practice in the woods, you too will become an expert when it comes to pooping in the woods!  While it seems intimidating to many people, it's honestly not that hard and gets easier the longer you're out there.  Did this post help you out?  Do you feel more comfortable knowing that it's really not that hard to go to the bathroom on a hike?  Did I forget anything you think I should mention?  Leave me a comment below or find me on Twitter or Facebook to get the conversation started!

The Packing it Out Crew Hits the PCT

The Packing it Out logo - taken from their Facebook page. 

By now, if you've been reading this blog or even are remotely interested in hiking in general, you know of the books Wild and A Walk in the Woods.  You also know that anyone who is an actual hiker (and not an armchair adventurer) is SO TIRED of hearing about those books (and movies!)  With the popularity of Wild the Pacific Crest Trail has seen a huge upping of trail traffic and is even speculated to see more visitors than the Appalachian Trail this year.  This is one of the reasons I personally have decided to wait until the "hype" dies down to hit the PCT.  There were a ton of problems on the PCT last year, the first year of thru hiking since the movie Wild premiered. Legendary hostel Hiker Heaven, operated by the Saufley's , closed for the season (and has thankfully since reopened).  Ziggy and the Bear of Whitewater Trail House had their donation jar stolen more than once.  Trash and poop problems became so large it prompted blog posts by the PCTA themselves to tell hikers to quit pooping under rocks (which was featured in Cheryl Strayed's book).  

With the more recent complaints of poop at Eagle Rocks and trash being dumped behind and over rocks WITH A DUMPSTER ACROSS THE STREET it couldn't be a better time to hear that the Packing it Out Crew has decided to hit the PCT.  Packing it Out did an AT thru hike last year with the goal to remove 1000 pounds of trash from the trails.  That 1000 pounds includes tires, mattresses, and countless cigarette butts.  They didn't even count the number of times they had to properly bury someone's toilet paper for them (gross, right?!)  With the season getting late for PCT NoBo's, the hikers are about to hit the trail from Campo to head north.  They deliberately chose a later starting date to get behind most of the trail traffic to help clean up the trash.  

The fact that we need people to hike behind the pack and clean up after them is both uplifting and infuriating to me.  With more trail traffic than ever it is so important for hikers to be practicing Leave No Trace ethics to the best of their abilities.  If the words "Leave No Trace" annoy you, follow the ethics you most likely learned as a scout - leave the place better than you found it.  As a guide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited National Park in the country, I pick up countless pieces of trash every day (and do not touch the toilet paper or tampons if I don't have a biohazard bag handy for them).  It is so incredibly sad to see that the solution most people have for trash/toilet paper disposal is "well, I'm done here, I'll just leave it."  

Toilet trash under a rock on the PCT.  (Photo from the PCTA website). 

If you haven't heard about Packing it Out, I highly recommend their blog here. And for those of you who are just recreational hikers please carry an extra bag for trash when you go out.  You don't have to pick up anything too disgusting, but just pick up some small things.  Microtrash (bottle caps, plastic rings, pop can tabs, pieces people pulled off candy bar wrappers) can really add up!  Let's all try to leave the trail a better place than we found it!

Do you like to take hikes in your area but find a lot of trash?  How does it make you feel to see trails and waterways with garbage?  

Got Dirty Laundry? Clean it Up with Scrubba!

Everyone who has ever gone camping knows dirty laundry will pile up.  For us as long-distance hikers, we know dirty socks are the worst laundry offenders.  While we would often do what we call a "pre-rinse cycle" with our socks by washing them out in the shower with us when we were getting ready to do laundry, we always tried to think of an easier way to do it.  Enter the Scrubba. This dry bag has a built in "washing board" for scrubbing your laundry.  If you're using this bad boy in the backcountry, it's a great way to practice Leave No Trace ethics while cleaning up your smelly hiker clothes at the same time. 

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I decided to give the Scrubba a try washing some of NoKey's hiking clothes.  The bag has a water fill line on it for dirty clothes and has two levels depending on how much you're trying to wash.  Since I would be primarily using this in the backcountry, I did it my way.  I put in a pair of long shorts, a T shirt, boxer briefs, a pair of socks, and NoKey's signature balaclava.  I poured in 750 mL of water (24 oz) and a squirt of Dr. Bronner's.  I let out air before rolling down the bag.  Then, I used the valve build in on the side of the bag to let out more air.  Then, I commenced to scrubbing!  The directions on the bag recommend washing from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, but with NoKey's clothes I opted for 3 minutes.  The scrubbing is actually not hard at all.  I bounced the bag around a few times and scrubbed some more.  The bag recommends dumping water out and then putting in clean water to rinse.  Since I'm a hiker, I like to preserve water (and nature) by only dumping one load of gray water.  I pulled each item out of the bag one by one and rinsed it and wrung it into the bag.  I think hung it all out to dry.  I then dispersed the gray water around the area away from the tent. 

Scrubbing away in my Scrubba! 

I really liked using this bag. I like seeing the directions clearly printed on the bag and the window for checking on how much dirt comes off your clothes. I also liked that it can use much less water than it calls for depending on what you're washing.  It was easy to use very Leave No Trace friendly.  I also liked the fact that I can use the bag as a stuff sack for clothing.  At less than 5 ounces, it's comparable in weight to other dry bags on the market with a few extra features.  I would recommend this bag to anyone who does extending backpacking trips or even run-cations - a good way to pre-rinse those race clothes and keep them separate in your luggage!  As for water usage, I only used 48 ounces of water to wash and rinse five pieces of clothing - much less than I would have doing a rinse in a hostel or hotel sink during a hike. 

Laundry drying in camp. 

Disclaimer: I was provided the Scrubba free of charge in exchange for a review. I was not required to give it a positive review and, as always, all opinions are my own. 

Backcountry Ninjas

I'm proud to be a brand ambassador for 30 Pack and his company Backcountry Ninjas.  He gives 7%of the profits from his small company to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the Pacific Crest Trail Association, and to Love of Children.  

Pardon my paleness... It's been a long winter! 

With thru hiker season comes trash season! Always remember that if you pack it in, you ALWAYS pack it out!