WAG Bags for Poop Packing

I have been using them for years in places where they are recommended or requirement such as Lassen and Shasta in winter and the Whitney zone in summer.  I find they are quite convenient for trips up to 4 or 5 days.  With some planning and careful packaging, the used WAG bag can be carried without incident outside the pack.  During our Scout snow camping outings even the young Scouts get used to using them in winter.

The main downsides I have seen is 1) in the Whitney Zone folks just leave them on the ground expecting someone else to carry them out 2) there needs to be signed bins at the TH for and education about their proper disposal. Folks who  are dutifully carrying them out are pitching them in the regular trash or into the US Forest Service vault toilets at the trailhead.

If the land management agencies start requiring them for areas that require weeks rather than days in the backcountry, I would posit that the use of WAG bags could create more problems than they solve.

RE: Single use.

I have found one bag will work OK for two days. But with the caveat that I am out in the winter where everything freezes.

For two days, I could probably manage without a bag just by diet before the trip and after. It doesn’t seem to be a thing around Pennsylvania anyway. At least I’ve never heard it mentioned.

^I was thinking same.

As much as I hate the thought of seeing toilets in the backcountry, think that for ultra high-use sites (thinking spots like Viddette Meadow on the JMT/PCT) it could be appropriate. As ugly as the thought is, some of these areas are hit so hard it would likely be the lesser of evils. Seems it’s either that or drastically reduce permit numbers…Which I doubt will happen.

I don’t like any of it but I suppose it’s where we are.

Interesting perspective that has me thinking about using a WAG bag in high use areas (Indian Peaks Wilderness) even if they are not required. I have used them a few times where they were required and while I don’t relish it, it does feel like a small thing I can do.

Maybe I’ll put carrying my WAG bags out in the same category as changing my kids’ diapers. Gross at first, then tolerable, and finally just a fact of life … and certainly for a good cause.

BTW, I get 2 days per bag and wrap them in small/medium size Oven Roasting Bags. And for sure, hang them well.

Ben, I agree. WAG bags for heavily impacted and sensitive areas only.

I’m thinking of storing poop in a large plastic jar that some whey protein came in on an upcoming desert boat trip. I’m not sure how big it is, but 3-4 gallons I think. I plan to dump the poop out onto rock to dry whenever we are camped for the night. This is in a sensitive area that sees a lot of boaters so of course it will be returned to the container each morning when we leave.  Dumping the most recent poop out at the end of the day will be slightly nasty but in the desert poop drys fast and shrinks down to very small size which is the point. Perhaps we’d want two containers, one for fresh poop and the other for poop that has dried and shrunk enough that it’s easier to handle.  I’ve experienced the delight of hauling wet poop off glaciers before and prefer not to do that on this trip. I’m not clear on the environmental down side of my plan, if any. I often camp in desert spots on BLM land repeatedly and poop in the same spot for days. Within a day it shrinks quite a bit. After 3 days it’s hard to find.  I’ve pooped in the same place repeatedly on separate trips say in April, then May, then June and it has always disappeared. I don’t know where it goes, whether it dries up and blows away or is carried off by animals. I use soap and water (no toilet paper) so that isn’t an issue.  I’m not sure exactly what environmental repercussions are. I’m curious about what people think of this.

No. Just no.

I assume that’s about leaving bags with poop on the side of the trail

Climbing Cascade volcanoes – it’s just loose rock, no place for poop to decompose, lots of people.  That would be another place where a WAG bag would be appropriate