Monday, June 05, 2006

The real issue of fourteeners is your tissue


The two most active threads on 14ers.com right now tend toward the scatalogical. It's not, "Is Mt. Wilson snow-free yet?" or "What's the best Route on Mt. Lindsey?" It's "What do I do if I have to go to the bathroom above treeline." And everyone's got an opinion: bury it, hold it, or (yuck) bag it. Others swear by the rhythm method -- "the best thing to do is time your 'time.' Take care of biz BEFORE you get there."

Only slightly more popular than talking about crap is talking about dog crap. Should you bring your dog? The consensus is yes, but bring a leash and a bag to pack out the poop. By the way, the Out There staff advocates this on local trails too, particularly Barr Trail, the Incline and Waldo Canyon, which all seem to have a dog doo-doo gantlet hikers have to run in the first 50 meters. Blechk!

Anyway, the third-top posting as of this morning was where the worst mountain speed traps are. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised the talk is not so much of the mountains. Mountaineers have always had trouble expressing their passion. See Everest pioneer George Mallory's "because it was there" speech.

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