[pct-l] TP usage

[gwschenk at socal.rr.com]

When you climb up out of Cajon Pass to Guffy campground and then traverse Blue Ridge you may notice some dead burnt trees. That all burnt when somebody down in the East Fork burned their TP. That was the prettiest part of the Angeles before the fire.

How many fires have been started by thruhikers in the last decade? Maybe that's why the rangers don't trust us morons, because we've proven the point a few times.

Alcohol stoves, burning TP, burying TP, illegal fires are OK for us, but those damn OHVers...
Gary

---- Bill Thoms <wthomsjr at comcast.net> wrote: 
> It seems that the LNT purists will urge others to go thru all kinds of odd
> practices - like carrying their own poop, etc., to avoid using TP.  In a
> place like the Whitney Zone, with almost no soil, vey heavy usage and no or
> not enough latrines then poop bags and carrying out makes sense.  On the AT
> in New Hampshire, however, the AMC maintains latrines, and even helicopters
> out the sealed latrine tanks from AMC huts.  California ought to do the same
> in high-use areas.
> 
> I happen to think that poo on the hands is the cause of disease and death
> from disease in many parts of the world, and that Eastern customs of wiping
> oneself with the left hand is unsanitary and unhealthy.  Millions of people
> in said Eastern countries die each year from communicable diseases related
> to poor sanitation and fecal transmission of disease. To me TP and water
> sanitation is a huge leap forward for mankind in its battle against
> communicable disease.  I love TP, the extra soft luxury TP, and I pack it
> and use on the trail.
> 
> This will not only horrify the LNT purists but when I tell you that I
> usually burn it in the cat hole I will be outraging the fire prevention
> folks too.  But if you visit my JMT hike web album at
> http://picasaweb.google.com/wthomsjr/2009JMTHikeAndWesternExcursions# and
> look at photos #102 thru #105 you will see what the Le Conte Canyon Rangers
> do with their TP.  They burn it, at the same time as they urge hikers to
> pack out theirs.  Mmm.  No doubt this is because they don't trust us moronic
> hikers with fire, even though open fires are legal below certain altitudes
> that the authorities in their various fiefdoms cannot agree on.
> 
> Here's what I do to ensure sanitation, cleanliness and proper disposal.  I
> pack in a gallon zip lock bag my roll of extra soft luxurious TP, a BIC
> lighter, a very small vial of liquid soap and a small vial of alcohol-based
> hand sanitizer.  I also bring a water bottle.
> 
> I dig my 6 inch cat hole far, far from human activity. I really take a walk
> away from the trail if I can.  Keep in mind that this isn't going to work in
> places like Guitar Lake or Muir Pass, where there's very little soil or none
> at all.  But then it's so open in these areas that if you're half smart you
> won't be there without having first relieved yourself elsewhere.
> 
> I dig the hole.  I open the zip lock bag. I take out the supplies and
> arrange them with lids off so I don't have to open them with potentially
> poo-covered hands.  I do my business in the hole, using a few sheets of my
> luxury TP.  I then wash and sanitize my hands. Then I light and burn the TP
> in the hole, carefully watching.  I then use the water remaining from hand
> washing to thoroughly extinguish any embers remaining in the hole.  Finally,
> I carefully fill in and disguise the hole and pack up my kit and return to
> the trail or campsite.
> 
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