Needles waste disposal changes

Dave

Broadcaster, formerly "ashergrey"
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Get ready to pack out your potty in Chesler Park and Elephant Canyon. Info from the NPS:

The National Park Service (NPS) has announced that overnight backcountry permit holders for Chesler Park and Elephant Canyon backpacking campsites and the Peekaboo vehicle campsite in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, will be required to pack out their human waste beginning September 22, 2013.
Use of a toilet system that is either: 1) washable and reusable, allowing for the sanitary transfer of waste to sewage treatment facilities, or 2) of the type that treats solid waste with dry chemicals and is EPA approved for disposal in landfills (a.k.a. "wag bags") will be required.
Disposing of untreated human waste in landfills is prohibited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Landfill safe waste bags must be disposed of in a designated human waste receptacle, and portable toilet system contents must be emptied into a designated sewage treatment/dump station facility. Dumping portable toilet system contents and/or putting wag bags into vault or flush toilets are prohibited. Human waste in the backcountry is becoming a greater resource protection and human health concern as park visitation increases. Park officials encourage all visitors coming to enjoy the region's backcountry trails and roads to plan ahead for ensuring they can properly contain and dispose of their human waste.
 
Hmm...if they are requiring them at Peekaboo, I wonder if that means they are getting rid of the toilet that is there?
 
I thought that might be coming. The Ranger Assistant at the Maze earlier this year told me that changes were coming and he thought that it may apply to ALL backcountry sites. I'm glad they aren't going that far... yet anyway.

- JG
 
I should have gone to Utah in the spring. 'Dropping the deuce' in Utah is becoming a chore. So what are these toilets. I've never used one. My friend had to paddle the Westwater Canyon with a toilet mounted on the bow of his C-1. He was not pleased but the other paddlers had micro-boats and didn't want the weight.
What is a legitimate toilet? Does you crapper need to be inspected prior to issue of permits. Can you use the tubes climbers use? It basically is a PVC tube with a screw cap end. I don't climb big walls for a few reasons and this is one of them:)
 
I should have gone to Utah in the spring. 'Dropping the deuce' in Utah is becoming a chore. So what are these toilets. I've never used one. My friend had to paddle the Westwater Canyon with a toilet mounted on the bow of his C-1. He was not pleased but the other paddlers had micro-boats and didn't want the weight.
What is a legitimate toilet? Does you crapper need to be inspected prior to issue of permits. Can you use the tubes climbers use? It basically is a PVC tube with a screw cap end. I don't climb big walls for a few reasons and this is one of them:)


I'm not sure what the first toilet system they are referencing is, but the second I believe is this kind of product:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002L1J4P8/?tag=backcountrypo-20

I had to use one on my Narrows dayhike. It's a little weird doing your business in a bag, but is pooping in the backcountry ever a pleasant affair? The main thing I would worry about is where to store said bags in your pack.
 
I'm not sure what the first toilet system they are referencing is, but the second I believe is this kind of product:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002L1J4P8/?tag=backcountrypo-20
I had to use one on my Narrows dayhike. It's a little weird doing your business in a bag, but is pooping in the backcountry ever a pleasant affair? The main thing I would worry about is where to store said bags in your pack.
I am sure those are the type they reference. After hucking my 2 bags and 4 other -!&/@hole's bags who left them out from climbing Mt. Whitney I would say you DON'T want to stow them in your pack. I double bagged them and double trash bagged them and hung that on the back of my pack. I still smelled like the outhouse and my bros refused to walk behind me. Yuk! :giggle:
 
I think the joint trail just became a day hike for me.

The only thing worse than packing out my own shit off Whitney was holding it in worrying about packing it out.
 
I use Restop II bags since two years where necessary and store them ever outside of my backpack.

Gesendet von meinem HTC One X+ mit Tapatalk 4
 
I am sure those are the type they reference. After hucking my 2 bags and 4 other -!&/@hole's bags who left them out from climbing Mt. Whitney I would say you DON'T want to stow them in your pack. I double bagged them and double trash bagged them and hung that on the back of my pack. I still smelled like the outhouse and my bros refused to walk behind me. Yuk! :giggle:


Oh man, that sucks! I didn't have any odor problems with mine, but I only had to carry it for a few hours. I wondered if they would present a problem on a longer hike.
 
@Pixie: You don't crap into the bag do you? I figured you pick it up off the ground and put it into the bag. If not, you better be a good aim then:) I would hate to miss.

@Art: You picked up others crap! Medal of honor goes to you. Maybe making a poop tube from PVC to haul it would reduce the smell. I wonder if they make an ultralite model. I have been reading on this topic and seems they use kitty litter to reduce the smell.

@Dan SLC, that's funny. Maybe better to eat lots of pizza the day before a big hike.

@Michael: Restop, which model? They have everything from bags to plastic bucket.

I'm not certain I want a delicate plastic bag full of crap in my backpack nor on my backpack.

Check out the Biffy bag model, step 3. No way will I be using this system.
http://www.biffybag.com/how-it-works.htm
 
@Pixie: You don't crap into the bag do you? I figured you pick it up off the ground and put it into the bag. If not, you better be a good aim then:) I would hate to miss.

@Art: You picked up others crap! Medal of honor goes to you. Maybe making a poop tube from PVC to haul it would reduce the smell. I wonder if they make an ultralite model. I have been reading on this topic and seems they use kitty litter to reduce the smell.

@Dan SLC, that's funny. Maybe better to eat lots of pizza the day before a big hike.

@Michael: Restop, which model? They have everything from bags to plastic bucket.

I'm not certain I want a delicate plastic bag full of crap in my backpack nor on my backpack.

Check out the Biffy bag model, step 3. No way will I be using this system.
http://www.biffybag.com/how-it-works.htm

Yep, in the bag. It was a little tricky, but no worse than aiming for a cat hole. I suppose you could go on the ground and pick it up if you have the stomach for it.:p
 
The bags they're using in Zion now aren't too bad. Don't abuse it, but it's a bag-within-a-bag design not likely to just accidentally tear.

I don't know that anyone sells poop tubes. I made one to use in Labyrinth Canyon but it's heavy enough I wouldn't want to backpack with it.
 
The ones I've used were provided by the nps and were like a little tarp you rolled back in to a strong ziplock and were for two or three days use. Redeploying for day 2 or 3 was a thoroughly unpleasant experience. Maybe we are just all too "shy"????

Thanks for the medal! But I had to carry out mine anyway and I couldn't bear to leave them there on my precious alpine tundra. And I cursed the human race all the way out....
 
I think the joint trail just became a day hike for me.
The only thing worse than packing out my own shit off Whitney was holding it in worrying about packing it out.

Good one Danny Boy :twothumbs: Course may not be the best plan for your gastro-intestinal and reproductive health... And, try that for nine days...
 
The bags they're using in Zion now aren't too bad. Don't abuse it, but it's a bag-within-a-bag design not likely to just accidentally tear.

I don't know that anyone sells poop tubes. I made one to use in Labyrinth Canyon but it's heavy enough I wouldn't want to backpack with it.


How about a cuben fiber poop tube. There might be a market.

I cringe at the thought of putting it into my backpack. But if it hangs outside it is subject to abrasions from bushwhacking or slot canyons.
 
The ones I've used were provided by the nps and were like a little tarp you rolled back in to a strong ziplock and were for two or three days use. Redeploying for day 2 or 3 was a thoroughly unpleasant experience. Maybe we are just all too "shy"????

Thanks for the medal! But I had to carry out mine anyway and I couldn't bear to leave them there on my precious alpine tundra. And I cursed the human race all the way out....


Don't curse the entire human race.
Redeploying for day 2 and 3! They gotta re-think this system. Each dump must be self-contained, period. That poop tube is sounding much better.
 
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