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kiliki
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kiliki
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PostThu Aug 15, 2019 12:25 pm 
I'm curious to know what other people do when backpacking, whether you are hiking to camp with full packs, or doing a day hike away from camp. The best I've come up with is to bring dog waste bags, triple bag it and bring it back to camp with us, then bury it along with our own, then put the empty bags in our garbage. Anyone have a better method? Do others carry their trowel on day hikes and bury it right away? Our dog always seems to poop in a spot that isn't appropriate to dig a hole (right next to the trail in a meadow) so we have to transport it. I will admit, on a lesser traveled trail, not near water and in the woods, I will leave it. I was in the Snowgrass/Lily/Cispus Basin area the past few days and that's not really an option in such a heavily used, meadowy area.

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JPH
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PostThu Aug 15, 2019 1:04 pm 
Hiking a trail through the woods we would typically fling it off the edge with a stick, too. When hiking in more fragile or rocky areas (Robin Lakes area or the like) I would take a plastic Lays Stax container and put it in my dog's pack that she carried. Then that would be the "poop tube" that the filed bags were put in when flinging wasn't really an option. Contained and not in my bag.

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iron
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PostThu Aug 15, 2019 1:12 pm 
it should all be packed out.

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SwitchbackFisher
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SwitchbackFisher
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PostThu Aug 15, 2019 1:12 pm 
I've never done the fling thing, bag it pack it out is what I've always done, it's not like it weighs that much, it just goes with the rest of my trash. If I'm wearing a pack that's a pain to take off or put on I'll put the bag in a cargo pocket then handle it whenever the bag comes off next.

I may not be the smartest, I may not be the strongest, but I don't want to be. I only want to be the best I can be.
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grannyhiker
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PostThu Aug 15, 2019 1:33 pm 
Haven't had a dog for 6 years now, but this is what I used to do with Hysson: Dayhiking--bag it and pack it out (took it home for disposal). That was especially true when hiking in populated areas like the Columbia River Gorge. Since Hysson always carried a pack, he got to carry his waste. Backpacking--I treated the dog's waste as I did my own. I guess I was lucky in having a dog who generally pooped only right after meals. Also, I had trained him from puppyhood to eliminate on command (not 100% perfect, but it usually worked). I would walk him in an area where it was relatively easy to dig a hole, carrying the trowel, wait until he pooped, then dig the requisite hole (I wouldn't insult the dog by calling it a cat hole!) and bury it. The horrific "custom" of those idiots who leave the full poop bags at trailside seems to have started since Hysson passed away. If your dog is not fully up-to-date on all his vaccines and worm medicine, it's even more important to isolate his waste from wild animals to protect them. My daughter's dog is so allergic that he can't have any vaccines, even rabies. His poop gets bagged, sealed, and taken home.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey
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Joseph
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PostThu Aug 15, 2019 10:18 pm 
Best practice? Don't take the dog (recommended by Harvey Manning - and I concur).

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rubywrangler
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PostThu Aug 15, 2019 11:15 pm 
Multiple forest service rangers that I met on the trail when I was with Ruby actually recommended flinging. But generally I buried. In very fragile locations, bagged and packed it out in her pack.

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Ski
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PostThu Aug 15, 2019 11:53 pm 
Joseph wrote:
Best practice? Don't take the dog (recommended by Harvey Manning - and I concur).
Dogs have been accompanying humans in the out of doors for millennia, and that dynamic is not likely to change in the near future. It also falls into a category known in the parlance of lands managers at NPS, USFS, and BLM as "traditional and historic use" (the prohibition of dogs on NPS trails notwithstanding.) Harvey Manning said all kinds of things. Not all of them were correct.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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Sky Hiker
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PostFri Aug 16, 2019 5:04 am 
rubywrangler wrote:
Multiple forest service rangers that I met on the trail when I was with Ruby actually recommended flinging. But generally I buried. In very fragile locations, bagged and packed it out in her pack.
2nd that

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kiliki
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kiliki
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PostFri Aug 16, 2019 7:46 am 
Thanks for the conversation. It's always interesting to hear what others do. After I posted it I picked up the new WTA magazine which has a article about poop. I don't think I'd realize how bad things have gotten with us humans. Maybe I'll start a different thread about that. I always appreciated Manning's snide remarks about the hikers they can't go anywhere without good ol' Killer, though in general I think he was harshing on the people that were defying bans on dogs in national parks and such. Ira brought his Shelties hiking…

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SwitchbackFisher
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PostFri Aug 16, 2019 8:11 am 
Sky Hiker wrote:
rubywrangler wrote:
Multiple forest service rangers that I met on the trail when I was with Ruby actually recommended flinging. But generally I buried. In very fragile locations, bagged and packed it out in her pack.
2nd that
I have a very hard time believing that. I know lots of rangers very well and none of them would suggest this. I have been complimented many times for picking up after my dog by rangers. I would believe your mistaking recommending a behavior for what was actually the intent of the message that they would rather you do that than leave it on the trail. I think however technically speaking leaving it on the trail would have less of a negative impact than flinging it, but that is purely speculation. Rangers get very tired of picking up after other people's dogs, and other people as well.

I may not be the smartest, I may not be the strongest, but I don't want to be. I only want to be the best I can be.
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uww
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PostFri Aug 16, 2019 8:27 am 
Ski wrote:
It also falls into a category known in the parlance of lands managers at NPS, USFS, and BLM as "traditional and historic use"
Just curious as I am not well versed in the legalese- do campfires also fall into the "traditional and historic use" category?

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JPH
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PostFri Aug 16, 2019 8:40 am 
uww wrote:
Just curious as I am not well versed in the legalese- do campfires also fall into the "traditional and historic use" category?
Are you trying to imply that a dog (or a pile of dog poop) has the same risk associated with a campfire?

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Dharmabum
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PostFri Aug 16, 2019 8:55 am 
I always bag it and let the dog carry it in their pack. Dispose of it when I get back to civilization.

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Randito
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PostFri Aug 16, 2019 9:29 am 
FWIW: To all the purists that feel dogs have no place in the wilderness, note that support from hunters that use dogs was an essential constituency for getting the wilderness act passed in 1964. Without that many of our most popular trails in the PNW would be logging roads. That said on popular trails "pack it all out" is the best practice. The worst practice is super common-- which is bag in non biodegradable plastic bags and leave it on the side of the trail and then "forget" to pick it up on the way out. Flinging is infinitely preferable to that-- even on Tiger mountain.

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