The things they didn't carry

When I read "Into Thin Air," Jon Krakauer's journalistic ascent of Everest, I remember being very struck by his description of base camp: it was basically one large garbage dump and toilet. Apparently it is quite disgusting.

Mount Shasta also lacks toilets. But rather than encourage people to leave their business wherever they please, the thoughtful and practical people running Mount Shasta have implemented a human waste pack-out system which is exactly what it sounds like.

When we got our summit passes at the ranger station the nice ranger also handed us a few human waste pack-out kits to take with us. They consist of: a paper lunch sack with about a cup of kitty litter in it, a larger plastic bag and a large piece of thick paper with instructions printed on one side and a huge bullseye printed on the other.

I am not joking.

The instructions suggest that you find a comfortable spot, take out the paper and make sure to weigh down the corners with rocks or snow to avoid the wind playing a nasty trick on you, and then - ready, aim, fire!

Once you've hit your target you take the paper by the four corners to deposit the contents into the brown lunch sack which in turn is placed into the plastic bag. I would think you would want to seal that really really carefully before packing it up into your bag. Double bagging does not seem overly cautious.

For better or worse, we packed these handy kits in and then back out without having to use them, so I can't report on how well they work or don't. I can tell you that the three young men camping next to us spent a lot of time talking about them and were, I would say, kind of eager and excited to use them. I think they may have picked up some more fresh ones on their way out of town to continue their target practice at home.