Minimal Impact Bushwalking

[walkinTas]

I walked to the Walls of Jerusalem on Friday and Saturday in a party of three, and counted 29 other bods doing the same thing. And given the huge population that Speculator encountered at Cradle Mountain I thought maybe I'd post the following links. Its my pet theme for the summer.

Minimal impact bushwalking by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service.

Minimal impact bushwalking by Parks Victoria.

Minimal Impact bushwalking by RMIT alpine club.

[Son of a Beach]

Thanks for this, it is worth having these links here for the sake of those who are unaware. It amazes me how many people I come across when bushwalking who are either unaware, or who just don't care. One of the best things about being out bush is the wilderness aspect of it. Having a lot of other people out there detracts from that a bit, but the damage that the ignorant ones do detracts from it even more.

These links are so appropriate, that I'm going to copy them to the Other Bushwalking Web Resources sticky topic.

I occasionally pack out bits of rubbish that I find left behind by other people, but I must confess I do not always do so (but I never knowingly leave any of my own rubbish behind).

In particular, on my last walk, I came across a garbage bag hanging in a tree which clearly had a very small amount of something in it. I was surprised to think that somebody could leave rubbish like this in one of the most beautiful spots on Earth (just a few metres away from the Northern campsite at the Irenabyss, on the Franklin River).

So I picked it off the tree and took it back to the campsite with me, intending to pack it all the way out and dispose of it properly. However, I soon realised that whatever was in it, had the most horrific stench (even though tied closed with a knot), and I could not bring myself to put it in my pack (and could not hang it from the outside of the pack, due to the scrub-bashing I was going to be doing over the next two days). I left it hanging on another tree at the campsite, for which I apologise to any other walkers that come through after me.

In my defense, I will say that I was literally gagging from the smell, and very nearly emptied the contents of my stomach, the smell was that bad. In hindsight, I could have buried the contents, I suppose and washed out the bag and brought it back, but for all I know the contents may have contained other plastic bags, or such rubbish.

[corvus]

wT this excellent info is available to all who venture forth and has been for years and yet I have come across TP Flowers (and some turds with no TP? )all over .Fisher persons get a bad name as do Day walkers but who do we blame in The Walls the Arm River track on top of Cathederal , Reedy Lake track et all ,I have even come across the dreaded poo neatly (shat) placed on a rock at Echo Point beach and that was b4 the long drop was closed (btw is it opened up again) so as I have previously mentioned we cannot account for the anti social .
Perhaps we should TAKE UP ARMS and insist on carry in carry out solid waste just think of the extra income it could generate .
We weigh each walker and their food ,subtract estimated fluid loss and charge a penalty if the poo in the paid for supplied bottle was less than average we would also need to exempt the anal retentives but require a Stat Dec when they do let go to ensure they avoid a double penalty for telling lies.
In reality I have been in an Alpine Training situation wherein we were oblidged to carry out our poo, the hardest thing to achive initally was to keep the Glad Wrap from blowing away but having done the deed TP and Poo wrapped up neatly and left out overnight was frozen and easy to fit into "the wide neck bottle " that we had to carry with us ,we were allowed to wee in a bottle but could dispose of it away from our O/nite campsite I honestly dont think this could ever happen.
Jees would you like to be the Rangers who had to enforce this
Only long time education will work inmho

[tasadam]

I know of rafters that made special "poo chutes" - long pieces of wide conduit that has screw caps on each end... Or something like that, from the vague description I recall.
A necessity for them as places to "do it" in a friendly way along the river is not always possible to find.
So long as people are sensible it should not come to the extremes mentioned. Problem is, some people are NOT sensible.

[corvus]

I believe in some parks in USA the carry in /out is the norm ,but that may be an Urban mith

[Son of a Beach]

I'm a father of a 17th month old girl. I'm totally used to carrying other people's poo about and even wiping their bottoms.

If they brought in such rules, I bet people could make bucket loads of dosh carrying out poo for other people who couldn't deal with carrying their own. The return of the night cart!

[walkinTas]

I didn't really intend for this to become yet another poo thread, but it is a big part of the minimal impact story. All of the above sites mention walking 100 metres (yes metres) away from the track or campsite or stream before digging a whole 15 cm (6 inches) deep. Bury your waste and TP. If I can just push this theme a little bit further before I annoy everyone...

Here are a few more things to consider.

Waterborne diseases.

More on Cryptosporidium.

Essential Bushwalking hygiene

More on good bush hygiene

You should also be careful about washing.

• Wash away from streams not in streams or at waterfalls.
• Wash your hands after toileting - away from the stream, especially if you're the cook.
• Consider carrying hygienic hand wipes so you can wipe (wash) your hands after toileting. The big TP companies make these. But be careful of the added detergent/anti-bacterial substance - keep these away from streams and fish.
• Don't allow any detergents (even biodegradable ones) to enter water streams.

Last edited by walkinTas on Sun 20 Jan, 2008 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Son of a Beach]

Please note that the posts about antiseptic handwash have been split off into their own new topic HERE. Please use that new topic for any further discussion of antiseptic handwashes.

[TassieMargie]

We haven't done any overnight walks but we have camped around the place. In places where there was no facilities we always walk away from the campsite and watercourses to do the business. I can't understand why some people just leave everything where they do it. Is it that hard to dig a hole?

We have, on a number of occasions, cleaned up after morons at campsites. I think it is just laziness and not giving to hoots about the environment that these people leave stuff behind. There was one spot we camped at where a big box full of rubbish was left behind after the people left.

[walkinTas]

If you are fairly new to Bushwalking and overnight trips the Parks and Wildlife Service have an excellent Essential Bushwalking Guide & Trip Planner, with important tips on bush toiletry, minimal impact walking and much more. You can download a PDF version from the link at the bottom of the page.