Okay, this topic is not as glamorous as reviewing new gear or epic trail reports, but everyone seems to have an opinion about carrying Waste Accumulation and Gel (WAG) bags up and down Mt Whitney. This thread will give some background info, share some info, and open up discussion on a sensitive subject.
For background info, there are 2 essential reports that explain a lot.
1) Inyo NF "Environment Assessment (EA) - Mt Whitney Human Waste Management" Jan 2004.
This 50-page EA is step one in the NEPA process, the way federal projects must be reviewed per Nat Env Protection Act. This EA describes all practical solutions for replacing the toilets including the "do nothing" alternative. Step two in the NEPA process is to publish a decision document for public review that explains why the preferred alternative was selected. In this case, no decision document was published, therefore there was no public review. Instead, the former Inyo director (he's gone now) issued a 1-page memo instituting the wag bag policy. The EA report is no longer on the Inyo website. I have a copy if someone is interested. Perhaps this public domain document can be uploaded somewhere.
2.) Second report is, "Performance Evaluation of Backcountry Solar Toilets," by Joe Arnold, Rocky Mtn NP Engineer, dated Jan 2010.
http://www.americanalpineclub.org/uploads/mce_uploads/Files/PDF/Solar_Toilet_Report.pdfThis excellent 21-page report describes 27 years of success with their solar toilets on Long Peak. This location is very similar to Mt Whitney in terms of elevation and high visitor use. The report includes engineered drawings and cost estimates. This report demonstrates that solar toilets are a viable alternative at Mt. Whitney, which some people argue about because the old design was so crappy (pun intended).
In my opinion, wag bags are not the best solution to this problem at Mt Whitney. I'm sympathetic to the heroic efforts of the Rangers trying to keep the old toilets going. Any backcountry toilet needs regular maintenance but it must have been terrible work due to the bad design of the old system. Rangers have more important things to do and the maintenance should have been contracted out like at Long's Peak. There are places where only a wag bag makes sense, but on Mt Whitney they have the option of toilets. With the heavy use involved, I think toilets would have been the best option. Wag bags are the easiest and cheapest for Inyo, but are they really the best overall solution?
