Most everyone knows the answer to the age old question “does a bear poop in the woods?”
Yes. Bears do poop in the woods.
But, what about humans? Should they poop in the woods? Or on a glacier?
When looking at ways to keep the park clean, following Leave No Trace guidelines are your best bet. Backcountry pit toilets, proper “cathole” technique and packing out all trash are ways you can help keep the park clean.
Up in the high elevations, like on glaciers, you can either use the toilets at Camp Muir and Schurman, or the next best thing, blue bags.
Climbing rangers, and all the park staff, care about keeping our glaciers and water supplies as clean and healthy as possible. Blue bags are just one more tool rangers are using to do that.
So if folks walking their dogs can bag waste, so can all the folks on the snowfields, glaciers and other high places within the national park. Just like doggie bags, the human waste gets bagged and carried out. In places like Paradise and White River, there are specific barrels for disposing of used blue bags. It’s one way you can help keep Mount Rainier beautiful.
In what ways have you helped keep the park pretty? ~ams
NPS Photo (top) Looking up the Muir Snowfield towards Camp Muir and Gibraltar Rock. August, 2019. NPS Photo (bottom) Empty blue bags on a wooden bench. November, 2019.