4/11/10 Post

It was so nice to have spring show up again this weekend! I did a hike with my 30 lb pack with a couple of my backpacking friends to Wallace Falls today and we were delighted by the weather. We ran into a group of CHS 2 hikers at the trailhead who were doing the same trip. It was such a nice day that the CHS 2 group decided to extend their trip several miles and include Wallace Lake as well. My threesome turned back at the upper falls as we had other things to tend to that day. But it felt so good to get out in the sun again. Hope you were able to get out on either of these fabulous weekend days.

All hikers need to be familiar with Leave No Trace (LNT) principles. These are guidelines for non-impacting conduct in the wild areas we will visit during the course of this program. If you are unfamiliar with these tenets, please review them at: http://www.lnt.org/programs/principles.php.

I especially want to stress the first tenet: dispose of waste properly. If you’re squeamish about reading about these types of issues, get over it now and learn the proper way to deal with your waste in the backcountry when no toilets are available.

Even if you’ve managed to somehow avoid going to the bathroom in nature up to this point, it is a certainty that you will not be able to hold it long enough to complete some of the longer hikes we have planned this summer. In this case, it’s important to have a prepared toilet kit with you. The idea is to leave your pack on the trail and take your toilet kit with you to do your business. My toilet kit contains:

· Toilet paper

· Small plastic waste bags (the kind you use for picking up dog poop)

· Plastic trowel to dig cat holes

· Small bottle of hand sanitizer

· Cotton bandana

Ladies, I use the cotton bandana in place of toilet paper when I have to pee. That way I don’t have to worry about handling and packing out toilet paper on most trips. Urine is sanitary, and I keep the bandana in a plastic bag in my toilet kit—washing it after every trip. Hand sanitizer completes the process. Gentleman don’t seem to need the bandana for this particular bodily function.

If you need to poop in the backwoods, that’s when the toilet kit really comes in handy. In most backcountry places, the process involves digging a cat hole with your trowel, making your deposit in the hole, and then covering it up with the dirt dug out of the hole. The trowel is only intended to touch dirt, not human waste. Any toilet paper that you use goes into your plastic waste bag for you to dispose of at home. Do not bury toilet paper in the cat hole! Even the biodegradable kind takes a long time to decompose. Some people are in the habit of using natural toilet paper (such as rocks, twigs, leaves, and so on). In this case, you can put those items in your cat hole before you fill it back up. Then use that hand sanitizer after you’ve packed everything else back into your toilet kit.

In some pristine places, unless there are backcountry toilets available, all waste must be packed out. Yes, that means your poop too. One such place is the Enchantments area in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness near Leavenworth. Your small plastic waste bags are good for that chore too. Several CHS hikes go into this area, so be sure to prepared when going on these hikes. Your hike leader can demonstrate the process of using the bags to pick up poop. Even if you know how to do it, the demonstration is still good for a laugh!

Participants & Volunteer Rosters:

The current participant and volunteer rosters have been posted on the CHS Forum. We decided to place it here so only CHS participants can view it. You should have received an email invitation several weeks ago to join the CHS Forum. If you haven’t done that yet or have lost your invitation email, please let me know.

The CHS Forum is separate from the CHS web site. However there is a link to the Forum on the CHS web site on the Class Resources tab>CHS Hiker’s Forum section. You must be a member of the Forum for the link to work for you.

Once you’ve gotten to the Forum home page, scroll down to the Files section and you’ll see a link to both of the rosters. Please check your information and let me know if anything needs to be updated. If you are unable to view Excel documents, please let me know.

WTA Work Party Signup:

We now have the links available for you to sign up for the trail maintenance work parties being held later this summer in conjunction with WTA. If you love to plan in advance, here’s you’re opportunity to schedule your day now. I have posted the WTA document with the links on the CHS web site>Class Resources tab>Course Documents section>2010 CHS Trail Maintenance Flyer link. You can view the date and description of each trip as well as click on the link to sign up for them.

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. Be sure to include the name and date of the hike in the subject line. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs.

April & May Hike Signup:

May hike destinations will be finalized soon and will be advertised in my next blog entry. Signup for May hikes will begin on Wednesday, April 21 at 9:00 AM. If you want to see how the schedule is shaping up, feel free to view it on the CHS web site.

All April hikes are available for signup for more than two hikes now. Feel free to go on as many hikes in your pacing group as you want. There is still space available in the following hikes:

CHS1:

4/25 (Sun.)—Anna May Brennan/Steve Payne, Point Defiance (9 miles, 100’ gain)

CHS2:

4/24 (Sat.)—Barbara Folmer/Jan Pecoraro, Little Si (5 miles, 1,200’ gain)

Have a great week and I’m looking forward to hiking with you sometime soon!