Okay so I’m gonna have to get real for a minute. If you gross out easily then this post might not be for you.
I pooped in a ziploc bag last night. We pushed for a 21 mile day so that we could camp at this deli .3 miles off trail that we’d heard good things about. They have awesome sandwiches and a spigot for water and outlets to charge devices and a nice yard they encourage thru hikers to camp in. But they don’t have a public restroom. I didn’t know that. I purposefully held my poop as we passed the last privy 3 or 4 miles prior because I was just so excited to have a real toilet that flushes and a sink to wash my hands. My heart dropped when I saw the “no public restroom” sign on the door. I ordered my sandwich and proceeded to ask if they knew of anywhere nearby that I could use a restroom, but alas they did not. It was a Sunday and the only other businesses nearby were a concrete plant and a heating company, both of which were definitely closed. I got my sandwich and went out back knowing there was no way I could make it back to the privy, nor was I willing to add 6-8 miles to my day just to poop. There was nowhere far enough away from where people hang out to dig a cathole, and I guess I could have gone back to the woods to dig but at this point it was starting to get dark. I knew what I had to do. After several minutes of contemplating my life and my decisions that had brought me to this point, I fished a spare gallon size ziploc out of my bag and waited for it to get really dark out. And then I pooped in the ziploc bag in the middle of their backyard.
It was pretty life changing.