Thursday, October 9, 2008

Pooping in the woods...

Pooping and for the ladies peeing in the woods the wrong way I think is the reason the DEC is developing such stringent regulations on camping in the High Peaks to control the human impact on the Flowed Land Corridor. On a recent trip into the campsites around Uphill lean-to I found a lot of unburied toilet paper close to the campsite and even within the campsite proper. Come on people even a dog doesn’t crap or pee where it sleeps. With all the hiking I did this summer and the trail work that I did on the Lake George Land Conservancy’s preserves, I spent a good amount of time on the trails, and 98 percent of the litter I saw was tp.

If you are a newbie to the woods tp is biodegradable, but will be visible for months after it is dropped on the ground. Also, please do your business off the trail. You never know who will be walking around the corner.

I would like to put forth and idea. The hikers of the area will hate it but I think that this idea would be better than what the DEC seems to be doing in the Flowed Lands Corridor, namely limiting where you can camp.

The idea is to make hikers and campers take a hiking course to allow them to purchase a hiking license. This course would be similar to a hunter’s safety course and would be taught by the DEC or approved organizations like the ADK. There are many other items that could be taught that could actually save people lives. I also think that if hikers are more comfortable with the woods they will be a little more comfortable going off the trail to take care of their personal business.

Information that could be covered:
-Proper clothing
-being prepared
-proper gear
-how to poop in the woods
-bear safety
-using a map and compass
And many, many other topic that would be important for the new hikers

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Your idea of a hiker's license is a good idea in theory, but with the government controlling so much that we do the thought of now needing a license to HIKE of all things, just seems unthinkable. But I do see where you are coming from. I had to laugh, one time we were hiking on the Appalachian Trail here in NY and there's actually a train stop where people can travel from NYC and get off right on the trail. There was this couple, dressed totally inappropriately, carrying way too much stuff (they had 3 backpacks between the two of them) including a gallon jug of water they were just carrying by hand. I think they could have used a little "training"!

Matt said...

The idea is more of a certificate that you have receive proper training to hike and camp. I think that there is a lot of people out there that are messing it up for the rest of us some do to lack of training

Anonymous said...

This is really a outdoor activity