Ahhhh Sh*t! (I never really talk like that) ;p

[tanya]

Hikers climbing and descending the highest mountain in the contiguous United States no longer have the option of packing out their human waste.

It's mandatory.

During the past year, rangers have removed three nonfunctioning toilets along the Mount Whitney Trail, located on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. From what began in 2004 as a voluntary program, hikers are now required to carry out their human waste in personal sanitation kits called Wagbags.

"What we're really trying to implement up there is a long-term change of behavior," said Garry Oye, who supervises the Mount Whitney Ranger District for the Inyo National Forest. "Packing out your own waste is now a personal responsibility."

Sanitation has long been an issue on Mount Whitney, where the sheer numbers of visitors overwhelm available resources. Each year, about 16,000 people attempt to climb the 14,497-foot peak from the east side with an additional 4,000 coming over from the west through Sequoia National Park.

In 2006, rangers removed the outhouse at Outpost Camp as well as the privy near the Mount Whitney summit. The solar-powered outhouse at Trail Camp, which had stood since the 1960s, was taken away last spring.

All three outhouses were nonfunctional at the time of their removal, officials said. And even when they did work, rangers still faced the messy task of keeping them clean as well as taking the waste down the mountain via helicopter.

"There was this perception that solar toilets would dehydrate all the waste and make it easier to pack out," Oye said. "That never happened, and at some point we had to admit the system wasn't working."

Burying human waste is frowned upon because of a lack of soil in many areas and the number of visitors.

Each Wagbag (WAG stands for Waste Alleviation and Gelling) consists of two plastic bags, hand sanitizer and a small amount of toilet paper. The inner bag contains a powder that when wet turns into an odor-fighting gel. The outer bag is resealable, zipping up for transport.

Most people hang the bag off the outside of their packs while on the trail.

Hikers climbing Mount Whitney from the east side are given Wagbags when they pick up their Forest Service permits in Lone Pine. For backpackers coming over from Sequoia National Park, Wagbags are available at the Crabtree Ranger Station.

So far this year, more than 4,500 pounds of human waste in Wagbags have been deposited in receptacles at the Whitney Portal trailhead, Oye said. The bags wind up in Inyo County landfills, where they are designed to biodegrade over six to nine months.

Besides environmental benefits, the personal sanitation kits allow rangers to concentrate on their primary duties, Oye said.

"Instead of cleaning toilets, my rangers are out on the trail answering questions and meeting people," he added.

In most cases, hikers on the Mount Whitney Trail have accepted the new regimen.

"I don't mind it," said Marilyn Nelson of Los Angeles. "There are so many indignities on the trail anyway. And people do that all the time with their dogs in cities."

Added Scott Whitten of Danville, "If I've got to do it, I've got to do it. I'm not a big fan of it."

Mount Whitney isn't the first wilderness area to utilize these kits. The practice is common among big-wall climbers and whitewater kayakers and required at the Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier and Zion National Park.

Even if it doesn't happen overnight, Oye believes that Mount Whitney hikers will come to realize the positives of carrying Wagbags far outweigh the negatives.

"For some people carrying those Wagbags is unpleasant -- we understand that," Oye said. "But it does give you more freedom where to camp instead of having people clustered around those two toilets.

"It's a better experience up there with them gone."