Hi everyone, my name is Annie, I'm a senior expedition admissions officer at NOLS,
and today we're going to be covering some fun topics:
pooping, peeing, and managing a menstrual cycle in the backcountry.
So, a key part of recreating responsibly is taking the time before you hit the trails to
gather some basic information about what to expect. So, what happens if you have
to use the bathroom and you're far away from a toilet? Today we're going to be
talking about how to manage that while making a minimal impact on your surrounding landscape,
so that way both you and your ecosystem that you're in can remain happy, healthy, and clean.
First things first, we're going to be talking about pooping in the woods.
If you want a great example of someone who you might know who's a professional at this,
take a look at your household pet cat. When it has to use the bathroom it's going to find an
appropriate location, dig a shallow hole, do their business, cover the hole, and go about their day.
So when we're pooping in the backcountry, we're going to want to take notes from that cat:
it's going to be clean, discreet, and require a little bit of digging. So,
humans don't quite have litter boxes, but we do have items that will help
us use the bathroom in the backcountry. These include a trowel or a small shovel like this,
hand sanitizer, water, biodegradable soap, and a Ziploc bag that you can pack out any trash into,
including toilet paper, if you use it. We like to duct tape these so that you can't tell what's
inside of it, if that's more comfortable for you. First, you're going to find a good location for
your poop. You're going to want to be 200 feet away from a water source or 70 big steps away.
You're also going to want to make sure you're not right by or on a trail. Take a look out for dark
soil—this soil is typically organic so it's going to help maximize the decomposition of your poop.
It's also typically a little bit easier to dig into. Once you've got your location, you're going
to take your trowel and you're going to dig a hole between six to eight inches. Digging this hole
is typically the most time-consuming portion of this—of pooping in the backcountry, so try to
make sure that you are starting the hole digging before you're in a rush, if you know what I mean.
Once the hole is dug you're going to go ahead and squat directly over the hole. You want to
squat low to try to maximize the aim. If there's a tree right in front of you, sometimes it's nice
to just hold on to that tree, lean back a little bit, so that you're helping yourself with balance.
And then you're going to poop directly into that hole. Once you've done your business,
you're going to take that same trowel, place that dirt back in the hole, make sure that it's
nice and solid. You want to make sure that the trowel is only touching the dirt, not the poop
itself. You don't want to be shoveling poop to help with sanitation. Ultimately you're going
to want to make sure that that hole is looking like it's never been dug in the first place.
If someone steps directly over the hole you don't want their boot squishing into anything. So you've
dug your hole, you did your business, you covered up your hole, and next up for the art of wiping.
So if you're on a, you know, simple day hike or maybe on an excursion that's just a day or two,
you can choose to bring out toilet paper or wipes, but just note that even if the wipes or
toilet paper are marketed as biodegradable, we're always going to want to pack those out. So you can
pack out your toilet paper and wipes in the bag that I showed you as part of your bathroom kit.
If you're going on a longer excursion you might consider not bringing toilet paper or wipes at
all. There are lots of natural options for toilet paper you can use. These include
things like smooth rocks or smooth sticks that you can wipe with. Moss works well,
so does snow, you can use leaves as long as you can identify them beforehand.
You definitely don't want to be wiping with anything that's poisonous. Alternatively,
there's a method you can use that actually doesn't require any toilet paper or wiping materials at
all besides your hand. We like to call this the backcountry bidet. All you need handy is water,
biodegradable soap, and hand sanitizer. First you're going to designate a wiping hand and a
clean hand. Take your clean hand and your water, pour a little bit of water on your wiping hand,
wipe with a flat palm, avoiding any fecal contamination into your fingernails,
take your clean water, dump it onto your wiping hand,
alternate that with a little bit of biodegradable soap.
Do so until you don't see any more residue on that wiping hand. And after you're all clean and ready
to go you can grab your hand sanitizer, pour it onto both hands, and rub vigorously
so that you're getting the full sanitation effect. Afterwards you're going to feel completely clean
and you're going to have made a minimal impact on your environment because you won't have used
anything to wipe but your hand, water, and soap. One last thing to note about pooping
in the backcountry, it might be a good idea to check the local regulations for where you're
going and where you're camping and hiking before you set out. If you're going to desert location an
area with glaciers, lots of snow pack, or maybe an area where you can't get 200 feet away from water,
you may have to pack out your poop in something like this called a wag bag.
Next, we're going to talk about peeing in the backcountry. Similar to the poop routine, you're
going to want to make sure that you are 200 feet away from a water source. If you have a vagina you
might consider bringing an extra bandana out with you, something simple or cotton to wipe yourself
with, as a substitute for toilet paper, just to help yourself stay clean and fresh. As a way to
avoid urinary tract infections or yeast infections in the backcountry, it might be a good idea to
bring two to three extra pairs of underwear out with you. Consider bringing breathable fabrics. If
you can't wear them during the day, maybe changing into them at night in your sleeping bag. It's also
a good idea to just wash your genital area with water every once in a while, and if you do use a
pee rag like we talked about before, giving this a rinse or a wash every couple of days is going
to help you stay hygienic, clean, and fresh in the backcountry, even for long periods of time.
Finally, there are many ways to manage a menstrual cycle in the backcountry. If you do use tampons
you will have to pack out the applicator, the tampon itself, and any packaging in a bathroom
bag like this, like we showed you before. The same goes for pads. If you use a menstrual cup,
similar to the poop routine also, you'll have to dig a small cat hole
to dispose of your menstrual blood into the cat hole, and then cover that up afterwards.
With environmental and physical changes that you may experience in the backcountry it's really
common to see changes in your menstrual cycle. Even if you don't expect to get a period in the
backcountry, plan to bring extra supplies out with you. These changes in environment
and how physical you are in the backcountry can make your flow heavier or lighter, it could delay
it altogether or it could come early. Either way you'll want to make sure that you're prepared.
Hopefully learning about these tips and tricks of using the bathroom and managing a menstrual
cycle in the backcountry helps you feel a little bit more confident and prepared
before hitting the trails. Be sure to share what you know with your friends and family,
get out there, give it a try yourself, and we hope to see you.