Everyone’s gotta start somewhere. This article:
https://www.wta.org/news/magazine/features/a-drop-in-the-bucket
Contains this photo (full size):
Which I put in this trip report:
https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2019-07-30.5552171919
Of course, you can read my more in-depth trip report on this site as well.
It’s funny because when I got home and started working on it I almost immediately thought to myself, “This is probably the best photo I’ve ever taken.”
The article itself actually touches on a serious issue: the worsening overcrowding of our public lands and specifically the problem of human waste disposal. I have never been a believer in the idea that burying poop just makes it go away, and judging from the article I’ve been right all along: the waste inside capped pit toilets is mostly unchanged after 40 years. This season I’ve made an effort to pack out all of my poop using Restop 2 waste disposal bags. Sure, they’re heavier and it requires a bit more care in group settings (nobody wants to be known as the stinky hiker) but I think it’s the right thing to do for the environment, as corny as that sounds. I’m also tired of seeing used toilet paper on the sides of trails and campsites. In my opinion we’re approaching a tipping point past which digging and burying waste will be frowned upon and eventually outright banned.