How to: hike and poop in the woods
I’ve learned a loooooot from being in the mountains, starting from a country which is flatter than a pancake (I’ve tried to find out if this is true, but sadly can’t find any real research on the internet). During my time in the mountains, I’ve learned to always take them seriously, and never take anything for granted. I’ve learned how to plan a hike, which distances are too much, which distances are too little. I’ve learned how the weather can change in a manner of hours, how seemingly safe situations can become dangerous without directly noticing. My nature of not being a planner, not thinking things through or thinking about their possible consequences, has been punished quite directly in nature (I wish I could say I am more cautious now… alas, never stop dreaming). From being caught in a thunderstorm without a tent, to being extremely scared going over steep, slippery, snow fields without proper equipment.
For you not to make the same mistakes, I accumulated a few tips over the last years. But in the end hiking is also about experiencing, getting out yourself, making your own mistakes, you can not learn everything from books.
Leave no trace
The most important principle when spending time in nature is to leave no trace. I cannot emphasize this enough, there’s already so little wildlife and nature left, we shouldn’t ruin it. I can hear you say ‘but I already carry out all my waste’, but this goes way further than bringing back home the plastic container in which your food was wrapped.
Pooping in nature
One of the most important principles of leave no trace is what to do with your excrements, or how to poop in nature. The best thing is to either go to the toilet in an outhouse or carry out your poop. When this is not possible you have to dig a cathole (10cm wide and 15-20 cm deep) and cover your cathole after you have done your business. Always dig your cathole 100 m away from a water source, since it can greatly pollute water. It is always important to carry out your toilet paper, since it takes a long time decompose, there can be chemicals inside, and animals can dig it up and eat it. The reason why we need to be more careful with our feeces in comparison to animal feeces is because we eat a lot of ultra-processed and non-local food. Therefore it contains different particles as compared to animal feces. There’s also many virusus in human waste which can be spread through water.
If you don’t want to carry out your toilet paper, a bidet and a culo cloth are a great alternative. The bidet (like culo clean), you can use to clean yourself after doing your business, and the culo cloth you can use to dry yourself. Ultralight trowels to dig your cathole are available on the market.
Peeing
Pee, although containing many nutrients, also contains a lot of salt. Therefore undiluted it can be harmful for the surrounding plants. It is better to pee on rocks, and to avoid peeing multiple times at the same spot. It can also attract wildlife, therefore it’s better to do it away from camp. It evaporates better in the sun, so if you’re in a shady crack, it’s better to pee a little bit further away, for it not to linger. Just as with pooping, never pee close to streams or water reservoirs.
Hygenic products
So what to do with the grey water you create by using soap and toothpaste. The most important thing is to never leave it close to water and use biodegradable products. Most biodegradable soap degrades within around 6 months if it is buried in the ground, but will be harmful if you dispose it directly into water sources.
I always recommend using toothpaste tablets, as they have similar ingredients to traditional toothpaste, but avoid harmful chemicals and preservatives, such as parabens or sodium benzoate. If you are really conscious, even if you don’t use toothpaste for multi-week trips, you won’t compromise your tooth health. The abrasive action of the brush does most of the work, and missing the flouride hit for a few days won’t affect your teeth in the least. If you buy toothpaste made for babies and children you can always swallow it, and if you pack out your poop you can also bring your toothpaste. If you are leaving it in nature you can best spray it, whereby you spew the toothpaste out in a fine mist, so there is no ‘blob’ of toothpaste to attract animals. It does spread the smell, so it’s better to do it far from camp in bear country. Diluting your toothpaste by urinating on it can also help for the animals not to eat it.
Another important part of sanitary products is sunscreen. Sunscreen is the number one killer of coral reefs and other underwater ecosystems, because of its harmful ingredients. Especially if you tend to go for a swim after a sunny, sweaty day of hiking, you don’t want you sunscreen to harm the idyllic mountain lake you’re swimming in.
Wildcamping
Wildcamping is officially not allowed in most countries in Europe, apart from Scandinavia and Scotland. However bivouacking in the mountains is in general tolerated. This means that you can arrive late (officially after sunset), set up camp and depart early (before sunset), without any problems. We never had any problems camping wherever, not necessarily leaving early in the morning. When camping it is always great to stay close to a river or a lake, such that you have enough water for food and tea. Along the banks of a lake there’s also often flatter parts which are suitable for setting up a tent.
Drinking water
Take care with to leave your hygienic products and excrement further away from camp if you sleep close to water. Whenever you are drinking water make sure to filter it when:
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There’s cattle above it
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It’s standing still
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it doesn’t come straight out of a rock
In general flowing water (a river) is safer as water that is standing still (a lake). If the water is flowing straight out of a rock, there’s generally not really the necessity to filter it.
Campfire
A campfire is normally not allowed outside of designated camping spots, but it adds a lot of atmosphere. It is often hard to find wood when camping in the higher mountains above the treeline, and therefore not possible, unless when sleeping close to a hut. Otherwise you should always take great care and be aware of the current weather conditions. With strong winds, during very dry seasons or when on a dry forest floor, never make a campfire!
What to eat?
If you don’t want to put much effort into cooking in the beginning, you can always start with couscous. With my friend group, one person would bring couscous, and everyone else would bring add-ons. This could be salted nuts, olives, feta, store-bought dried vegetables, cup-a-soup as a taste-maker, tofu and everything that sounds good. For breakfast we would do the same but then with cinnamon oats, and people would bring dried fruits, nuts, raisins, peanut butter and chocolate. Like this we could make low-effort, but delicious and filling meals full of nutrients. For lunch most of us just brought a bunch of snacks that we could share with everyone. Bread with hummus, cookies, dried fruits and nuts, energy bars, wraps with avocado and tofu or peanutbutter. Everyone could choose themselves what to eat for lunch, and we could easily eat during the whole day instead of during one big break (which is also not nice for you digestion).
Distances per day
When hiking with big backpacks, we discovered that we could comfortably cover a distance of around 12 km a day, with height meters in between 1000 to 2000 meters. Doing this we still have time to do longer breaks and don’t have to rush in the mornings, which for me are important reasons to go hiking. To be able to enjoy and spend time with your friends, chat and joke around and not feel rushed.
Weather
We’ve often found ourselves close to life-threatening situations, they could change from seemingly safe situations in matter of seconds. This was partly due to our inexperience (we simply didn’t notice the potential danger of a situation) and of the unpredictability of the mountains. Weather is one of the biggest factors that can change a seemingly safe situation into a dangerous one.
Storms
It is always important to check the weather conditions when going hiking. Where current weather conditions are as important as the snow maps. If there’s a storm coming, a shelter is your best option, otherwise search for a spot which is not too exposed to wind. When selecting your pitch, you need to keep three crucial factors in mind:
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Keep the dangers of lightning in mind. Lightning often strikes tall, exposed locations. These can be tall trees or groups of trees, small hills or knolls in an open area or exposed locations in the mountains. The risk of getting struck by lightning in the forest is much lower. But most lightning also hits cloud to cloud, so there’s no real danger of getting hit by.
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Strong storm winds: strong winds increase the risk of your tent getting damaged. Camping near trees, might protect you from the wind, but there’s a risk of branching breaking off. Always secure your tent properly, parallel to the wind such that it has the least wind resistance. Use guy lines in the direction where the wind is coming from. If possible, the entrances of the tent should be facing away from the wind. This prevents the tent from getting torn or flung up in the storm. When taking down the tent, do it with multiple people and keep the pegs in as long as possible. Never leave part of the tent without weight to keep it down lying on the ground.
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Large amount of water which accumulates during storms can also cause damage to a tent. Due to large amounts of water, small rivers can become raging and large areas can flood. Near rock faces, individual rocks can fall from a cliff face and cause even larger quantities of rock falling. This can result in landslides or debris avalanches. Determing where water could come from and where it will flow to is very important before setting up a tent.
Snow
Avalanches is one of the biggest risks when hiking in snowy, mountainous areas. Especially in end of spring and beginning of summer when the temperatures are rising and snow is melting rapidly. Before going into a snowy area, always check the avalanche risk for that specific area. It is also always a good idea to cross snowfields in early morning, instead of late afternoon, when snow melt is at its peak.
When snow maps show that you will have to cross snowfields on your hike, it is important to always bring (micro-)spikes. They make crossing snowfields much safer, as they decrease the probability of slipping. At least one stick per person can also greatly help with improving balance and stopping yourself in case of slipping. An ice-axe can be very helpful, if you know how to use it. Snowfields can be very treacherous if you slip and you don’t know how to stop. Sometimes they are so steep and smooth that you are unable to stop yourself, without the right technique. Especially with a backpack it can be way more difficult to change yourself in the right position. Therefore watching some videos on how to properly hike on snowfields and how to stop oneself when slipping, is highly recommended.
Keep in mind when hiking in the snow:
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Never walk directly underneath each other. If someone slips, you don’t want to bump into the person directly underneath you, and slide down together. It’s very hard for two intertwined bodies to stop together.
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Kick with the nose of your shoe into the snow, such that you can make a step. It’s important to keep your shoe horizontally or bend your nose slightly down, such that your step doesn’t tilt in the same direction of the slope.
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If you’re not hiking straight up a snowfield, but cross it horizontally, always try to hike in footsteps that already exist and try to deepen them.
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Always try to hike straight up, also when crossing a steep snowfield. Don’t tilt towards the slope, because you will slip more easily.
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Use sticks to keep balance and micro-spikes to prevent yourself from slipping.
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Take small steps, make sure every step feels steady and secure.
In case of a fall withou a snow-axe, make sure to turn on your belly as fast as possible, legs pointing towards the valley. Spread your legs and press your feet into the snow, while pushing yourself away from the ground with your hands. Reacting quickly is key, since it’s almost impossible to stop yourself once you’ve picked up speed.
These videos from the dutch alpine association, show good techniques on how to cross snowfields and what to do when falling. Unfortunately they are in dutch.
Gear
When starting out with hiking you really don’t need to spend thousands of euros on gear. Try to find things second hand, ask around with friends of friends of parents. They normally have unused camping gear that you can borrow for your first trip. It might be a bit heavier, and you won’t go fast in the beginning, but it doesn’t matter, the process is the same. Start with smaller stretches, in subalpine environments to discover if it is something for you. Then slowly start to collect your gear together, trying out what works for you and what you find comfortable. In the end it is all about personal preference, what works for your friends doesn’t necessarily work for you!
Go out there!
In the end it’s all about experience. You’ll learn fastest and how to estimate new situations if you actually start hiking. Check out my post about the Dutch mountain trail or the Jura Crest Trail for great beginner hikes.
The most beautiful multi-day hike in Lofoten - hikers guide to earth
augustus 4, 2024 @ 16:51
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