[pct-l] Cat Holes a la Colin Fletcher, 1968 in The CompleteWalker

[charliethorpe@att.net (Charlie Thorpe)]

Hello Rick -

You said:

> A friend who heard I'm soon to hike the PCT, dropped by a dog-eared 1968
> book titled The Complete Walker by that long ago guru of hiking, Colin
> Fletcher. (A tad dated you say, what can he possibly offer?)
> 
> Here's what Colin has to say about backcountry "sanitation" in his chapter
> about "Housekeeping and Other Matters".
> 
> "Cat sanitation means doing what a cat does, though more efficiently:
> scraping a hole and covering up the feces afterward. The hole need not be
> deep; but it must be a hole, at least four or five inches deep, rather than
> a mere scratch on the surface....

Thanks for the reminder!  I have had a couple of editions of The Complete
Walker on my bookshelf for years.  I always enjoyed his down to earth
practical approach to backcountry living.  I had forgotten that he was one
of the early writers about the cathole method.

I am interested in adding a section to my longer LNT training sessions that
shows that LNT is just a synthesis of a LOT of earlier minimum-impact
backcountry use schemes...with a few updates from current scientific
thinking thrown in.  Fletcher's cathole quote will make a great addition to
this section!

I tried to find one of my copies of his book to add to my LNT display and
discovered that I have loaned them all out.  Time to hit the garage sales
again...

>.... I always carry a book of matches in
> the double plastic bags that hold my roll of toilet paper. I tear one match
> off ready beforehand and leave it protruding from the book, so that I need
> the book very little; and when I have finished I burn all the used paper
> (unless there is a fire hazard). The flames not only destroy the paper but
> char the feces and discourage flies. Afterward I carefully refill the hole.

This particular method for disposal of TP started to become fairly common in
the '70's.  By the end of the '80's, the managing agencies were asking us to
help spread the word that WAY too many wildfires were resulting from this
practice.  Burning TP is certainly a lot more palatable than packing it out,
but the latter was chosen to be part of the guidelines for LNT because the
damages caused by the former just weren't worth it in the long run.

I am of the opinion that "poop soup" will completely remove the possibility
of TP resurfacing from a dug-up cathole AND will dilute the contents with
enough dirt to discourage digging up AND will hasten decomposition.  It
takes a little effort to do the mixing, but that's still a LOT less work
than helping to put out a wildfire!

> Unless the water situation is critical, I have a piece of soap and an opened
> canteen waiting in camp for immediate hand washing."

Using soap is an interesting LNT decision in itself.

Soaps do damages ranging from actual poisoning to over-fertilizing of
elements of the ecosystem.  At heavily-used camping areas, popular washing
sites and toothpaste glop disposal locations turn sour as the season
progresses. 

I choose to carry no soap on my long hikes and have had absolutely no
medical problems of any kind as a result.  I did a lot of rinsing (my body
and my clothing), did a lot of "airwashing", and the only cotton that I
carried was my bandana.  I am not going to claim that I stayed
Sunday-go-to-meeting neat, but I was accused a couple of times of looking
too clean to be a thru-hiker.

Using no soap works for me as a solo hiker and with another experienced
adult as a partner.  I never suggest leaving the soap home when hiking with
a group or with new/unskilled campers.

Thanks for bringing in some good LNT history!

Trace No Leaves,

- Charlie II    AT ME-GA'93
               PCT Mex@Can'95
           Chipping away at the CDT