Catholes
...Select an inconspicuous site where other people will be unlikely to walk or camp. ... If camping in the area for more than one night, or if camping with a large group, cathole sites should be widely dispersed.
i think this is the crux of the problem. there are just too many climbers in too small of an area!
If the story I was told is accurate, this is a big reason as to why WAG bags were instituted in Indian Creek.
In one of the popular camping areas, people went around and placed a small flag wherever a cathole was found. One complete, the campground/desert was covered with flags. It was decided that the area was too popular for sustained use without some system in place. Now there's a pit toilet and subsidized WAG bags (though it's still just a couple of bucks, I doubt that all actually pay their share).
Granted, decomposition of human waste in a desert environment probably occurs much differently than it would at the Red.
sorry, meant 300ft, but 200 is better.
i was taught to go farther than you thought the last person had gone. i guess round here that makes it not too far.
I learned LNT principles @ NOLS. We were graded on campsites after we had packed up and were ready to leave. There was separate grading for latrine location. At the end of the course the person who was judged to have "the most scenic" latrine location that met LNT principles was awarded a banana split back in Lander.
It is really not that difficult people. Though I try to get my business over with before I head out into the woods I can't think of any situation while in RRG that I couldn't find an acceptable place to go. What really disturbs me about Bob Marley is that the climbers there are not gumbies and should really know better.
"Be responsible for your actions and sensitive to the concerns of other visitors and land managers. ... Your reward is the opportunity to climb in one of the most beautiful areas in this part of the country." John H. Bronaugh
You're right Meadows. I tend to assume all climbers are outdoorspeople. One day @ Drive-By I stopped some climbers who were starting to bushwhack over to Bob Marley and pointed them to the new trail that was only roughed in at that point. Later that day I walked the trail over to Bob Marley and asked them what they thought. They were not able to follow it despite the fact there was orange flagging every 30 yards or so
Clevis, I will take a look at your list.
"Be responsible for your actions and sensitive to the concerns of other visitors and land managers. ... Your reward is the opportunity to climb in one of the most beautiful areas in this part of the country." John H. Bronaugh
Meadows, I think I understand where you are coming from, but in this specific case, I have a hard time seeing it as an innocent mistake. If they were carrying TP, then this was their method.
Catholes
...Select an inconspicuous site where other people will be unlikely to walk or camp. ... If camping in the area for more than one night, or if camping with a large group, cathole sites should be widely dispersed.
i think this is the crux of the problem. there are just too many climbers in too small of an area!
If the story I was told is accurate, this is a big reason as to why WAG bags were instituted in Indian Creek.
In one of the popular camping areas, people went around and placed a small flag wherever a cathole was found. One complete, the campground/desert was covered with flags. It was decided that the area was too popular for sustained use without some system in place. Now there's a pit toilet and subsidized WAG bags (though it's still just a couple of bucks, I doubt that all actually pay their share).
Granted, decomposition of human waste in a desert environment probably occurs much differently than it would at the Red.
It does. Decomp at the Red and at IC are as different from each other as it gets. If there were small user numbers, it would be completely fine to just shit on a rock in the desert, and then spread it around. The sun dries it in a couple hours, and wind disperses it in a couple days. This was the standard means of waste disposal in the Southwest backcountry for quite a while. At the Red, you would be fine just shitting in a shallow hole, not even burning your toilet paper or anything like that, just because of the moist decomp.
However, neither of these practices work when you have large amounts of people in very close areas
