Everybody poops. And while this fact may not weigh on us in our daily lives, safely insulated by private bathrooms and flushable, water-sealed toilets, it is of vital importance on wilderness expeditions like our recent trip to the Kobuk River. It is difficult to balance comfort with the “leave-no-trace” ethic of wilderness camping, but the balance is cleverly achieved by bringing along a foldable “groover,” basically a toilet shaped super-structure that holds a biodegradable waste bag that can later be buried in an unobtrusive spot and thereby returned to the earth.
While the “groover” provides adequate comfort, the inherently public nature of wilderness bathrooms raises extremely important questions regarding personal hygiene and yes, even proper early childhood development. Consider, from the time we are infants we behave a certain way in the bathroom, with little or no reference point on which to judge the efficacy or correctness of the techniques our parents bestowed upon us. Through the potential embarrassment of the restroom, the wilderness experience provides the unique opportunity for us to look inside of ourselves and ask, “What if I’m doing this wrong!?” And while these questions may seem trivial in our civilized lives, it is, ironically, the solitude of nature that provides us the public forum for forthright introspection (see Figure 1).
But I digress. Though the “groover” solves the problem of human waste, toilet paper must be carried out or burned so as not to leave any indication of human presence in the otherwise pristine wilderness of the river. While it may seem unnecessary and/or undesirable to collect and burn used toilet paper, this activity at once protects the wilderness and generates a favorite cultural event at the evening campfire: the burning of the “poo bomb.”
Quite simple really, tension builds throughout the day until one intrepid explorer has the bravery to call out “time to burn the poo bomb.” The “poo bomb” is then uncovered and placed atop a raging hot fire (see Figures 2,3 & 4 above), carefully arranged to provide a suitable stable platform for the bomb (see Figure 5). As the fire rages and the poo bomb is returned to the heavens, the travelers dance around the fire with love in their hearts as they bid a fond farewell to the mighty bomb (Figure 6).
