Friday, October 26, 2012

Properly Take Care Of Your Business While Hiking

Before you leave home, decide what you will do about toilet paper. If you insist on having it, be warned you will have to carry the used paper out with you, preferably double-bagged. A more environmentally-friendly method is to use "natural toilet paper" - leaves, sticks, etc... I Use a biodegradable toilet paper that can be buried also.

When you feel the urge to go, always tell someone else in the group where you are going. This way, they can look out for you, and if you do not return after a short time, they will look for you to make sure you are safe.

Head out into the forest far enough so that people can no longer see you. If it is dark, do not wander too far from your camp, ask someone to accompany you, and always take a flashlight with you. Find a place at least 150 feet from camp and the trail, and 200 feet  from water sources.

Once you reach a desired place, grab a stick (or bring a small shovel) and dig a hole no more than 6 inches deep (the bacteria that properly break down this waste don't live deeper than that). This hole will function the same as an outhouse hole.

Do your business in the hole, and take care of the paperwork or if you use biodegradable wipes like i do you can bury them in the hole with your business .

Use a stick to stir some soil into your dropping, so soil bacteria can break it down more quickly. Then completely cover the material you deposited in the hole with dirt.

Head back to camp and wash or sanitize your hands before heading back to hiking or fixing you something to eat.

Please do not defecate in the snow. When the snow melts someone else will find your "present", as well as there is a possibility that the run-off, mixed with feces, will contaminate a water source.

Instead, walk until you find dirt as long as snow is not to deep . Try next to a tree because the snow will not be as deep plus you can use the lean method against the tree.

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