I keep promising not to write any more about bodily functions and keep breaking that promise but I have to figure, heck, everybody’s got to go, right?

So anyway: The last overnight trip I went on passed a popular lake about a mile from the trailhead. Must’ve been a dozen groups of campers, if not more, but there were no porta-potties or any other means of keeping all the crap in a central location. The area stank to high heaven from people not properly burying their poop, but here’s the thing: the lake is surrounded by rocky hills that don’t exactly abound with soft soil in which to dig a proper cat hole. Even if they wanted to be perfectly environmentally correct, the environment didn’t yield many options for making it happen.

Awhile after that campout I learned about this web site for RESTOP products, which provide resealable plastic bags that contain a chemical that breaks down and deodorizes human waste. Another well-known company sells WAG bags that do the same thing. Once your feces are in the bag and sealed, they can be tossed in any legal trash receptacle.

For sure there’s an ick factor to toting your droppings back to the trailhead but if you can get past that, the bag kits solve the most basic riddle confronting any backpacker: where do I go when The Urge hits? The kits are a bit more expensive that the natural method, but it’s a small price to pay for keeping the outdoors from smelling like an outhouse.