Easter: Snowdonia mountain path covered in human faeces – guide

Aren’t people great.

As someone who’s never resorted to shitting in public – what is the correct thing to do here? Should they take bags with them?

I have nappy bags in my rucksack. In some places abroad you need to have similar or poo pipes to carry it out. If appropriate I’d bury, but on a rocky mountain I’d bag it.

People often get caught short (I’m one with stomach issues), but I make sure I can deal with it responsibly.

Bury it.

As someone who’s never resorted to shitting in public – what is the correct thing to do here?

Crouching over a path or the railway line to pinch one off is the opposite of what should & could be done.

1. Try to not go on the hill.

If you do need to go:

2. Move away from path and any water sources, away from any farm resources like gates or feed troughs. Think about places people and animals won’t go very often.
3. Try to be sensitive & private.
4. Dig a hole 5-10cm deep – use a stone if needed.
5. Do what you need to in the hole.
6. Ideally carry any loo paper, wipes or sanctuary products out, if not burn into hole.
7. Cover the hole back with the soil and ground cover.

Yeah I’ve been caught out (about three times in my entire outdoor career) and when it’s been very rocky or hard to dig I just remove lots of rocks, go in the depression and then out the rocks back. But as above I do it a very long way from where anyone will be. And only in really remote places. Not on one of the busiest paths in Wales FFS.

Bury it.

Is fine in areas with fertile soil.

The trouble is that above that level there might not be the temperature/bacteria/fungi arround to break it down so it just sits there under a rock for years. Or contributes to over enriching the “soil” which is more an issue in sandy areas. A few poos or banana skins might not seem like much, but may provide enough nutrients for some grasses to estabilsh, which trap enough nutrients to supourt shrubs, then trees and before you know it your sandy heathland has become woodland.

before you know it your sandy heathland has become woodland.

Pee-Wilding?

I have nappy bags in my rucksack. In some places abroad you need to have similar or poo pipes to carry it out. If appropriate I’d bury, but on a rocky mountain I’d bag it.

What are poo pipes?

Whats wrong with people .

Before any activity sports poo..

What are poo pipes?

A short length of capped plastic pipe you put poo bags in to carry out. A thing in USA national parks and other places.
Poop tube

Whats wrong with people .
Before any activity sports poo

In my case IBS, other stomach and bowel conditions exist too. If you don’t suffer, be grateful.

Whats wrong with people

On one occasion a simple case of the shits.

I don’t think anyone sets out with the intention of suffering the indignity of defecating on a busy mountain. I didn’t! 🤦

On one occasion a simple case of the shits.

Although there are ‘warnings’.

I watched a colleague drop his rucksack, sprinted across the open glen and duck behind a large boulder… And then had hysterics when the DofE group caught up a few minutes later, asking why Dave had returned for the trowel of shame, back to the boulder and seemed to be digging a rather large area over… 🤣🤣🤣

I read toilets closed at bottom and top of mountain so this might of not helped situation.

Snowdon doesn’t do itself any favours by having a railway up it and a visitor centre plonked on top.
I’ve seen more Lonsdale tracky bottom crew attempting it in the depths of winter than anywhere else.

It’s the Trafford Centre of mountains

Snowing has become a tourist attraction rather than a mountain especially when you can just catch a train to the summit. Perhaps some of the money from all the parking charges could be invested in some facilities

The real question has to be how did it take 7 hours to go up and down Snowden and be finished by 8:30am. The loos were hardly likely to be open when they were at the summit

The trouble is that above that level there might not be the temperature/bacteria/fungi arround to break it down so it just sits there under a rock for years. Or contributes to over enriching the “soil” which is more an issue in sandy areas. A few poos or banana skins might not seem like much, but may provide enough nutrients for some grasses to estabilsh, which trap enough nutrients to supourt shrubs, then trees and before you know it your sandy heathland has become woodland.

This is why stick and flick is a problem on some areas of eg: Surrey heathland. Bagging and removing dogpoo is never wrong, flicking it into the undergrowth can be.

Shitting on the railway though……

Shitting on the railway though……

Wrong kind of leavings on the line

They probably chose to shit on the railway line coz at least it was off the path. I couldn’t really give a shit about this problem tbh, any poo would easily be broken down by the next heavy downpour.
I did a shit up Skiddaw once 😂 if you gotta go, you gotta go.

Whats wrong with people .
Before any activity sports poo

In my case IBS, other stomach and bowel conditions exist too. If you don’t suffer, be grateful.

Or bowel disease, again be grateful that you never have to face the indignity and utter embarrassment of soiling yourself.

Shitting on sand causes forests? 😆 Surely to heck the rangers would spot a few bushes before the forest appear? 😆

Don’t complain when your tyres don’t just pick up dog poop, but person poop. Disgusting. Dog poo bags are a big enough problem as it is.

I was buzzing round the Syfridin singletrack at NyA two years ago when, rounding a corner, I encountered a fresh one that somebody had coiled out right in the middle of the path, complete with reams of toilet paper. Good berm technique got me safely past…

As someone who’s lived out of a tent in more remote areas for months at a time, I’ve taken an interest in toilet matters. Always carry a small trowel, etc. It sounds perverse but I’ve revisited places I’ve sh@t to see how long it lasts and the answer is: not very long. On an individual level, I think the paper people leave is more of a problem (don’t get me started on the white tissues discarded everywhere by women wiping their flaps). Burn it or pack it out depending on fire risk.

Problem with Snowdon (and places like it) is the sheer volume of people who are not experienced hill goers. It’s just a numbers game. In all honesty, I don’t care any more – it’s great they all repeatedly blight the same **** up destinations rather than fanning out and going to other places.

Ahh, old ‘turd mountain’ 😉

Don’t know what they expect really. Must be Wales’ No 1 tourist attraction and no toilets. What could possibly happen 🤔

And yeah, the guy laying a cable on the track was absolutely doing the right thing. No winners here – can’t curl one out on the path… walk off to the left or right and you’re over the cliffs… can’t crap in a catapult and fling it out into the void lest it clatters a climber half way up Cloggy…

You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Best thing to do would be for everyone to hold it in and deposit it on the trig point on the summit. Thereby eventually embiggening the overall height  and taking UK’s biggest mountain from those pesky Scots.

They can’t complain about stray turds after laying this one right on the summit.

I’ve been caught on out a few times.

Most memorable one was in the dales up near Gunnerside Gill.

Very rocky so no chance to dig a hole. I went well out of the way of any trails and my plan was to bury it with rocks.
So I did my stuff, lifted up some rocks to plonk ontop of the doings…after about the 3rd rock I lifted I found a geocache, less than a foot away.

Apologies to any later geocachers who got a nasty surprise!

Walker ban.

Well currently towards the top of the front page we have this thread, “fill my crack” and “crap jokes”.

Luckily there are far more pleasant routes up and Down Snowdon. (Guide route choice fail?) Facilities should be provided, if you are going to provide the attraction provide facilities.
-shit happens!

my entire outdoor career

Just needed to highlight that phrase. Carry on!

Facilities should be provided, if you are going to provide the attraction provide facilities.

Not sure the mountain was ‘provided’ was it.
Unless you mean by the Lord.

I mean by the train, cafe, busses, marketing and the paid parking.

This. The mountain is a tourist attraction and many are making good money from it. If you want to attract tourists you have to provide the infrastructure to cope with it

Now you know all that Snowden should be avoided at busy times.
We had “travellers” arrive in the country park opposite us on Wednesday. Over thirty caravans and motorhomes. All well at first but the amount of rubbish strewn across the area, including the sports fields is beyond belief! Local events organised by the wildlife trust had to be cancelled and so it goes on. Vehicle activity into the small hours, some fighting last night and now some “units” on the cycle path and footpath. Rubbish everywhere.
We overnight in our motorhome on occasion, leave nothing and collect anything that’s there. We also contain all waste and dispose of it properly. I try to be tolerant of different people, getting caught short on a mountain is one thing but making it part of your life plan is something else.

Crouching over a path or the railway line to pinch one off is the opposite of what should & could be done.

To be fair to railway-line-man the toilets on trains used to just flush straight onto the tracks, so the railway lines of the UK were covered in it (remember the ‘don’t flush while train is in the station’ signs). The speed of the trains would disperse it and it was fairly soon broken down so not really an issue. When working on the tracks it was always a good idea to stand with your back to any passing train so as not to end up with a faceful of ‘spray’…………

After reading this I went on Facebook and it popped up about a sponsored MacMillan night walk up Snowdon

All those poops 💩 have got to go somewhere

They need to have toilets open 24/7 or close the hill to tourists and only let proper walkers up 🤔

See also the “van life” people populating open spaces near me. It’s not just bears that shit in the woods! And I dont think bears use wet wipes!

A few poos or banana skins might not seem like much, but may provide enough nutrients for some grasses to estabilsh

This is the same nonsense that’s trotted out about banana skins. It’s unsightly and anti social fo’shure, but this stuff about nutrient provision is crap (ho ho).