zanshin
Advanced Member
Had an interesting discussion about catholes and human waste disposal with a Ranger in the North Cascades NP in summer 2015. Having been an Army Infantryman for about 7+ years on multiple continents, I have dug my share of holes and dropped my deuce in many a foreign and sometimes hostile conditions, from jungles to deserts to alpine forests, and more. I was more or less of the opinion that since every other wild creature does it in the woods behind a rock or tree and Nature survives, it could handle my deposits as well, recycling it back to organic material.
The young female Ranger had a Masters in biosciences and was using her wages from the NPS to work toward her Ph.D. She said they did an extensive test with buried human excrement, as well as with it openly exposed to the elements (and the North Cascades gets its share of diverse and harsh weather). She said they pretty much expected what I said, but found that not to be true. Buried, particularly with toilet paper and other forms of disposable body cleaning materials piled in the hole, the stool remained more or less solid and in full form, even up to a year later. Said that when taken back to the lab, they could even clearly identify food components in the stool (and stressed that humans don't eat what bears and other mammals typically consume). Left exposed, it weathered and its form broke apart more rapidly, but still didn't totally decompose and was clearly identifiable as human waste up to 6 months later, even a sample left on a rock in full sun and rain exposure.
It was an interesting discussion, and like climate change, is sure to bump headlong into widely held beliefs of what's okay to do and what's not.
The young female Ranger had a Masters in biosciences and was using her wages from the NPS to work toward her Ph.D. She said they did an extensive test with buried human excrement, as well as with it openly exposed to the elements (and the North Cascades gets its share of diverse and harsh weather). She said they pretty much expected what I said, but found that not to be true. Buried, particularly with toilet paper and other forms of disposable body cleaning materials piled in the hole, the stool remained more or less solid and in full form, even up to a year later. Said that when taken back to the lab, they could even clearly identify food components in the stool (and stressed that humans don't eat what bears and other mammals typically consume). Left exposed, it weathered and its form broke apart more rapidly, but still didn't totally decompose and was clearly identifiable as human waste up to 6 months later, even a sample left on a rock in full sun and rain exposure.
It was an interesting discussion, and like climate change, is sure to bump headlong into widely held beliefs of what's okay to do and what's not.
