Day 42: rescue, and how to poop in the woods pt 2

Miles: 1.x
Water: some

So looking at my options this morning things didn't look great. I know I want to give my leg a day off. So if I go forward 7 miles I get to a town with 200 dollar a night hotels. And a 50 dollar a night hostel. But after hiking 7 I'm going to probably stay 2 nights to get some real rest, so that's 100 bucks, and hoping I don't aggravate my leg.

The other option is to stay here at the rock free pine swamp shelter. Which has bad water, tons of bugs, and terrible internet. I'm leaning this way a little.

I'm texting my crappy options to Jamie, and he says he will come and get me. I'm kind of like meh. Then he says Indian food. And as Karen and Scott well know, I'm up for most any plan if you add Indian food. And on top of this he is working the extra life both at portland con. So add in gaming convention too.  It all adds up to a weekend off the trail. But I'm ready for one of those.

Now on to what you really want, more pooping.

The most common way to go number 2 on the trail is the shelter privy. Or out house as they used to be called. The old two holer (I have only seen one two holer so far.)

I'm no expert but I guess the old style was a big hole dug in the ground with a movable privy on top. When the hole filled up, you dig a new hole, and slide the privy over the new one. I talked to a girl named ranger who said that this was a lot of her job as a park ranger. I have seen a couple of hole in the ground styles, but they are rare.

Sometimes especially at private camp sites there will be portajohns. These are an excellent place to steal some toilet paper if you are running low.

The most common privy is the "mouldering privy". Like the photo, they are high platforms above ground. There is no hole dug under it, the waste just piles up. Just do your business and throw your tp on the pile, then apparently the important part. There is normally a bucket of leaves or duff (the small crushed up leaves under the top leaf layer in the woods) or a big cube of cedar shavings like your giant hamster might use. You take a handful of leaves and toss it in on top of the pile too.

This magic mixture supposedly gives the right ph and materials for nature to break the waste down super efficiently. Some privys say don't pee on the pile, others say go for it, the extra moisture helps the process along. I do know that most of these mouldering privys are very clean, and generally don't stink. Also flies don't seem to be an issue. So they are doing something right.

This part is speculation. The privys in NJ had  wide bins on the sides with screened tops. I suspect that a caretaker has to rake the pile into that side periodically. Also someone told me that the caretaker in annapolis rocks campsite had to pull big sheet pans of poop out of the privies and dry them to use as fertilizer elsewhere in the campsite. The privies in CT all seem to have two spots you can put the toilet. So they must periodically change sides. It looks like all the trail clubs have their own quirks for how to build a toilet.

I have never seen any heaps of the finished fertilizer near the privies, so I wonder what they do with it? Maybe I will get an answer from a trail club member in the future.