When the heart can draw: A Remembrance

It was on the Lion's Bay search and rescue (SAR) task, April 9, 2017 for five hikers who died in an avalanche on Mount Harvey when their cornice collapsed.  They were mostly from the Vancouver Korean Hiking Club.  Teams from throughout the region were brought in to support the operation.

Four hikers were quickly found in the morning and one remained. Talon Helicopters transported us to the search area and toed into a spot in the deposition zone to drop us off. A search dog indicated near where I was probing, and I was present for the recovery of the fifth hiker, a woman.

A couple of days later, I was sketching with oil pastels in a sketch book, and did a quick, abstract representation of Mount Harvey as I recalled it from the deposition zone. I didn't think much of it, and shared it with a friend of mine who happens to be Asian.

She replied, "You have the faces of three Asians in this drawing, and their faces are in mourning."

I said, "What are you talking about?" I did not try to draw any faces, let alone Asian ones; just the mountain. I took a second look at my work. Son of a gun if there aren't three faces. My friend suggested that my heart had been drawing in order to get such a result.

I tracked down the Vancouver Korean Hiking Club, offered my condolences, told them about the sketch, offered it, and they gratefully accepted. A few days later, I heard from a woman who was a friend of the woman who died. She thanked me for the drawing, and expressed that one of the faces I had drawn resembled her friend.  

It's rare to have such full circle closure with a SAR task, especially such a large operation.

The Wilderness Bidet System

Makes a great gift! 

A big thank you to educator Dr. Sally Cirincione and outdoor leader Neil Abellanosa for your review and input on this blog post.  


The Wilderness Bidet System provides a top notch method for Leave No Trace (LNT) pooing.  It's hygienic and doesn't require toilet paper.   We'll lay out your supply list and walk you through the easy eight step poo process!   

What you'll need  

• water (about a litre, a Nalgene is nifty) 
• hand sanitizer 
• soap 
• pooper scooper / trowel 
• your hands: one (preferably left) hand dedicated to this process, and one dedicated clean hand.   
• natural scrub (a handy natural item like a smooth stone, hemlock cone, a large leaf, old man's beard, pine needles, etc.) 
• natural stir stick 

What you won't need: toilet paper!  

Step by Step: The Wilderness Bidet System / LNT Poo Sequence 

• select your site 
• set the table 
• poo to your heart's content 
• engage natural scrub 
• soapy rinse (up to a half litre of water) 
• hand sanitizer 
• wash hands 
• stir the pot 

Site selection: think big, think small

The macro, big picture, key here is to poo safely away from water sources and other recreationalists.  A good rule of thumb is to "take a fifty," or "take a hundred."  You want to pee at least fifty paces, and to poo at least 100 paces from water sources and high travel spots.  Have some privacy, away from water, away from people.  Enjoy your moment.  

The other side of site selection, the micro side if you will, is to set your poo up for success. You want it to break down easily, and to minimize environmental impact, as well as risk to others.  You don't want to gross people out, have them stepping into your poo, or worse, to get an intestinal bug because of your icky ways.  Your best options include: 

• digging a cat hole (four to six inches wide and six to eight inches deep), about the size of a one gallon paint can.  
• for multiple users with a larger party, especially if operating from a base camp, consider digging a trench  

Two site selection myths:  

1. leave your poo under a rock -- please don't cover your poo with a rock.  Leaving your poo under a rock means the sun/heat/rain/snow have a harder time getting under and decomposing the poo mix to turn it into great soil.  A good cat hole is all you need. 
2. in the alpine, smearing your poo on a sun-exposed rock -- given the impact of the high use of fragile alpine environments, decomposition times, and presence of bacteria, this is almost always a bad idea.  Current best practices encourage digging and disposing as you would in a forest environment whenever possible. Of course, if you are somewhere that your poo will have a hard time decomposing (snow, shale, etc.) consider (gulp) packing it out.  In a study published in the Journal of Environmental Management, the authors found that surface (smear) disposal would only be applicable in very remote, low use, alpine and arid settings.  Almost none of us goes there.  

Set the table 
Lay out all your supplies neatly, upside up, already open, and within reach.  Having your soap, water bottle, hand sanitizer, etc., open and accessible makes your backcountry potty adventure so much easier.  Plus you're not opening bottles with dirty hands.  In other words, prepare your layout so that you can do everything with one hand, and while squatting.

Poo with panache 

The eye of the tornado!  What it's all about!  For this step, you want to do what most of the planet does: drop your drawers and squat down low.  Your body is anatomically suited to a squat-style poo posture.  Your body poos more easily, more naturally than in the traditional western culture toilet position.

Pro tip: try to keep your squat at least at 90 degrees or lower.  A true squat.  

Otherwise, water and who knows what else that is left on your butt cheeks may run down your leg to your pants and boots.  So do it right and poo with panache.      

Wipe with your natural scrub 

Here, you're using whatever is handy -- whatever nature provides.  Take your smooth stone, hemlock cone, your leaf, old man's beard, pine needles, what have you, and with one fell swoop, you clear the residual BM from your well-rounded backside.  Women know that you always draw the natural scrub away from your genitals to avoid cross contamination.  

Soapy Rinse 

Work with your body on this one.  Do what works for you.  Your objective is a thorough rinse.  You'll find a technique that works for you.

• The traditional route.  You may wish to put a drop or two of liquid soap on your left hand, then take your water bottle, hold it behind your back at the top of your crack, and slowly pour most of the remaining water over your bum, using your (left) hand to clear the area of any remaining waste.  This is why it is offensive in many cultures to extend your left hand to someone. 
• Alternatively, you may find it easier to wet your hands and wipe while keeping the water bottle in front of you.  Simply wet and rinse your hand in front, and use that hand for the wiping and rinsing at the back.

However you do it, your objective is a thorough rinse: a wilderness bidet!  Save a little water to wash your hands at the end.  

Sanitize 

Next, squeeze a dime size dollop of hand sanitizer into your palm, and thoroughly decontaminate both hands.

Okay, now for the final approach.

Wash your hands 

Wash your hands.  This is where you put a drop or two of soap into your hand, add water, and thoroughly wash your hands, up to and including your wrists.  Consider using a little scrubby to clean your fingernails. You know the drill: sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or the birthday song, not once but twice!
The #1 reason people get beaver fever, or diarrhea, in the backcountry is oral-fecal contamination: they didn't wash their hands thoroughly after pooing.  Wash your hands.  Your tummy will thank you.

Stir the pot 
When you're done, take a stick (for example), your stir stick, and give your poo a good stir.  It gets the breakdown started.  Then cap off your cat hole with the soil you set aside.  Voila!  Leave no trace pooing!  The Wilderness Bidet!

TP-free, minimal impact, maximal hygiene, maximal comfort.   And the wilderness bidet poo kit makes a great gift!  Now your friends can poo with panache, too.