West Pack Out your POOP: Colorado Public Radio

[Ray Eklund]

MORE CPR NEWS
As more and more people venture outdoors, the leave no trace ethos is increasingly extended to everything a human might leave behind. Yep, you guessed it: If nature calls when you're out in nature, Colorado officials now ask you take your poop with you when you leave.

*****

No doubt you’ve heard the saying: “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.”

In beautiful outdoor spots across the West, however, people have been leaving something far more disturbing: human waste, piles of it.

For generations, outdoor lovers were taught they simply had to dig a deep hole, hundreds of feet from water, cover it up, and they were all good.

In recent years, however, they’re now being told that sometimes that isn’t good enough. More and more land managers are requiring complete poop removal in recent years. This is often mandated in areas too rocky, arid or simply too overused to allow for burying.
******
"Read the rest of the story here. The above is part of the Back Country POOP."

The Lookout CPR News by Sarah Bures sarah.bures@cpr.org

You had better watch your Step... When Cow Patty is in Town.

What about Cattle Pooping in the National Forest? Just asking.... Horse? They really can make a pile. Anyone out Boondocking Off the Grid see it all... and avoid stepping into the Soil Enhancers of the Past.

[Thalweg]

Just one of the many reasons we no longer go to Colorado.

[Dennis C]

If you’re camping in your Airstream, then aren’t you taking your waste with you in the black tank when you leave? It doesn’t seem to change much for people in Airstreams.

[Ray Eklund]

Ever heard "One Careful Small Step for Man in Colorado?" Or "Watch Your Step"?

Obviously includes trail hiking up to the top of Mount Antero, digging for Beryl and Aquamarine at 14,200 feet? Port a Potty stops?

Men whizzing on a tree or a bush? Whizz Banning?

Fisherman fly fishing in a Boat? Hmm... sack, net and bag? Or bucket? Or Groovers, rafting the Colorado River down stream from any Tourist Town?

Hunters? Moose, Elk, Deer, Antelope... leave no trace like fur, bones and poop? Theirs and yours?

Vegetarians... exempt?

Will there be a rush for Five Gallon Plastic containers with Lids at Lowes on the Front Range of Colorado? An Airstream Portable Black Tank Container for the affluent back country hiker?

People ON their uncomfortable Rich Seats on their Airstream Toilets... just Rattle Your Jewelry? Ringo? Ahhhh... comfort for all.

John Denver songs still are favorites and never disappoint.

[SHaley]

Could you just eat a plant based diet and leave it on the ground? After all, what's in it that makes it so evil?

[John Ware]

I'm not a hiker, but I've heard that the popular trails now look like the picnic rest stops along the interstates. You know, the ones with a trail of toilet paper leading off into the woods.

[SeeMore]

Is this another "humans are spoiling the earth" story, or the initial marketing for justifying legislation that creates the Excreta Offset Credits program to absolve us from complicity?

[John Ware]

Hey, sometimes when you gotta go, you gotta go.

[Ray Eklund]

We were along the Oregon Trail and Lander Cutoff in Wyoming several weeks ago.

Nothing to report. No toilet paper. Butt wipes. Obviously the evidence was being picked up and held for a conviction by concerned non poopers.

The Angus and Herefords leave their Vegetarian Pies everywhere. Elk nuggets, OK. Antelope nuggets, OK. Vegetarians... rule.

We did not USE THE TOILET IN OUR AIRSTREAM for two weeks. Too much effort...

We were towing our 2019 Oliver Elite II...

[SYC2Vette]

Not really a totally new thing. When we wilderness camped backpacking we used to bury waste but burn toilet paper. The hardcore folks would pack it out in special bags designed for that. This goes back to the 1970's. Of course we always pick up our dog poop no matter where we are. Hate it when folks are too lazy and inconsiderate to not bother with that.

[Dennis C]

Originally Posted by SYC2Vette

Not really a totally new thing. When we wilderness camped backpacking we used to bury waste but burn toilet paper. The hardcore folks would pack it out in special bags designed for that. This goes back to the 1970's. Of course we always pick up our dog poop no matter where we are. Hate it when folks are too lazy and inconsiderate to not bother with that.

I'm with you on that. Two popular hiking trails and a dog park were closed in my area because people won't pick up after their dogs. It's irresponsible behavior.

One of the hiking trails was littered with dog poop bags. People felt that they were doing their job by picking up after their dog, but then they dropped the full bag of poop at the trailhead and left it there. There were hundreds if not thousands of bags on the ground. Despicable.

[Ray Eklund]

Archaeologists have NEVER explained how the Pueblo Indians in the Southwest could live in a neighborhood, without running water plumbing or flushing toilets.

For hundreds of years these were happy communities. What changed? Fast food? Now deserted, as everyone left for the Rio Grande River for fresh water?

Was living 'upstairs' a better choice than on the first floor? Maybe the ceiling squeaked and adobe dust would fall onto the lower rooms, but no complaining.

Today, experts cannot understand how modern Human Beans can survive a year or a month in a City without electricity, running water, flushing toilets and fast food restaurants that cannot find employees. I am not an expert, so do not need to wonder.

Modern Human Bean Nature Lover's leaving Poop along a trail into the scenic mountains? How can that be? Often they are under fed and under nourished, from all appearances. I read articles about seeing the beauty at elevation.

Peddling a bicycle must be a challenge, when nature knocks.... Hmmm.

Would ten feet of snow clear the chalk board, to be polite, in the Spring? Everything is renewed. Flowers love the attention and extra calories.

I have often wondered... more or less... if expensive restaurant menus produce better or worse poop. What to do with back country metallic or plastic food packets? I do understand what too much fruit can do to your digestive system at home, or hiking. Not for those at Elevations above 9,000 feet.

If you enjoy nature, do as the birds, bees and Angus do at your campsite. Take turns helping the grass grow and the wind blow.

Build your own mini Septic System for convenience for all to use.

Buy a Propane Poop Roaster...? although California has BANNED single use Propane cans after 2028. Were these problematic at Yosemite National Park? The cans or the poop? Find this on Camper Report. My wife gets all kinds of odd stuff to read sent to her.

Have you any idea what your local Sewage Plant does with the water and solids sorting? I knew a guy who assembled these large industrial rotating Poop Cookers to make soil.

Goes in as Poop, comes out as Fertilizer. This was East of Kansas City, Missouri in the mid 1970's. Look... I only report the news... not make this stuff up. Have any ideas for a Potato Garden? We may have found you a solution to everything. Potato or the Potatoes discussion comes full circle after the 20th Century Dan Quayle big news.

Oh... the Honey Wagons of Germany, pulled by two to four horses in the early 1960's. I know where they dumped them in Landstuhl, Germany. They backed the Honey Wagon under the second floor 'john', and on the weekend spread it around their Fields for Spring Planting.

Yep... seen it. Stepped into it and learned a lesson. My brother and I were looking for Swords... and found Poop.
__________________

[hikingcamera]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

Archaeologists have NEVER explained how the Pueblo Indians in the Southwest could live in a neighborhood, without running water plumbing or flushing toilets.



For hundreds of years these were happy communities. What changed? Fast food? Now deserted, as everyone left for the Rio Grande River for fresh water?

I thought this was obvious: what changed is the population size that lives or visits there. That and apparently the level of common sense they have, as I’ve been to campsites both boon docking and backcountry with toilet paper scraps strewn in every clump of trees, bushes, etc.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

This "pack it out" thing has been a recommendation / regulation for decades. You rarely see it phrased as "pack your POOP". The more normal phrasing is "pack out EVERYTHING". That makes it easier to put on signs ( I guess .....). Various tour operators have been required to "comply" for a long while ....

Bob

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by hikingcamera

I thought this was obvious: what changed is the population size that lives or visits there. That and apparently the level of common sense they have, as I’ve been to campsites both boon docking and backcountry with toilet paper scraps strewn in every clump of trees, bushes, etc.

******

It is obvious. That is why I used it.

Have you ever wondered what the American Indian did when at Summer and Winter camps for Poop Control?

What about the Romans. The Greeks. Easter Islanders? San Francisco?

Anthropology is full of Rises and Falls of Civilization. Then we have History Books written in past tense from many who did not live at the period they write about... profusely.

You are seeing this in our remote areas as we type. I have too many Archaeological books, Paleontology books and even Glacial Geology studies of North America to absorb technology twenty years to one hundred years ago.

Look at the border crossing into the USA. Trash. Poop? You betcha. What is up with that?

Neanderthals see this change coming. Human Beans write about it.

[nwclassic]

A little levity makes even nasty subjects palatable (??). Way out West, limited entry adventurers (hiker/climber/rafter/kayaker) are required to carry a length of PVC capped at both ends (length,diameter of pipe x # of travelers, days) stores the solid waste to pack out.
I imagine short straws or a foot race determines who gets to ramrod the day's contributions.
Think I can hear John Muir chuckling.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

MORE CPR NEWS
As more and more people venture outdoors, the leave no trace ethos is increasingly extended to everything a human might leave behind. Yep, you guessed it: If nature calls when you're out in nature, Colorado officials now ask you take your poop with you when you leave.

*****

No doubt you’ve heard the saying: “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.”

In beautiful outdoor spots across the West, however, people have been leaving something far more disturbing: human waste, piles of it.

For generations, outdoor lovers were taught they simply had to dig a deep hole, hundreds of feet from water, cover it up, and they were all good.

In recent years, however, they’re now being told that sometimes that isn’t good enough. More and more land managers are requiring complete poop removal in recent years. This is often mandated in areas too rocky, arid or simply too overused to allow for burying.
******
"Read the rest of the story here. The above is part of the Back Country POOP."

The Lookout CPR News by Sarah Bures sarah.bures@cpr.org

You had better watch your Step... When Cow Patty is in Town.

What about Cattle Pooping in the National Forest? Just asking.... Horse? They really can make a pile. Anyone out Boondocking Off the Grid see it all... and avoid stepping into the Soil Enhancers of the Past.

Does this apply to the bears, mountain goats, racoons, deer and .......

[Ken J]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

******

It is obvious. That is why I used it.

Have you ever wondered what the American Indian did when at Summer and Winter camps for Poop Control?

What about the Romans. The Greeks. Easter Islanders? San Francisco?

Anthropology is full of Rises and Falls of Civilization. Then we have History Books written in past tense from many who did not live at the period they write about... profusely.

You are seeing this in our remote areas as we type. I have too many Archaeological books, Paleontology books and even Glacial Geology studies of North America to absorb technology twenty years to one hundred years ago.

Look at the border crossing into the USA. Trash. Poop? You betcha. What is up with that?

Neanderthals see this change coming. Human Beans write about it.

My guess is they were more considerate of others - what’s happening in Colorado is tremendous influx of folks in the back country leaving a huge mess - it’s a big issue - I have a friend that owns some high country land and he has it posted and gated no trespassing - people have been tearing down his fence and hiking through - he has to carry liability insurance for people who might get hurt on his land who have trespassed without permission

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by Ken J

My guess is they were more considerate of others - what’s happening in Colorado is tremendous influx of folks in the back country leaving a huge mess - it’s a big issue - I have a friend that owns some high country land and he has it posted and gated no trespassing - people have been tearing down his fence and hiking through - he has to carry liability insurance for people who might get hurt on his land who have trespassed without permission

The age old solution to pollution is dilution.
The method modern treatment plants utilize as well.
Rain, snow will do its thing and poop will begone.
Until than watch your step.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

MORE CPR NEWS
As more and more people venture outdoors, the leave no trace ethos is increasingly extended to everything a human might leave behind. Yep, you guessed it: If nature calls when you're out in nature, Colorado officials now ask you take your poop with you when you leave.

*****

No doubt you’ve heard the saying: “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.”

In beautiful outdoor spots across the West, however, people have been leaving something far more disturbing: human waste, piles of it.

For generations, outdoor lovers were taught they simply had to dig a deep hole, hundreds of feet from water, cover it up, and they were all good.

In recent years, however, they’re now being told that sometimes that isn’t good enough. More and more land managers are requiring complete poop removal in recent years. This is often mandated in areas too rocky, arid or simply too overused to allow for burying.
******
"Read the rest of the story here. The above is part of the Back Country POOP."

The Lookout CPR News by Sarah Bures sarah.bures@cpr.org

You had better watch your Step... When Cow Patty is in Town.

What about Cattle Pooping in the National Forest? Just asking.... Horse? They really can make a pile. Anyone out Boondocking Off the Grid see it all... and avoid stepping into the Soil Enhancers of the Past.

Next, you will have to watch where you exhale while hiking...don't want that breath to kill the plants!