BACKGROUND:
Being the tallest peak in the lower 48, the demand to access this trail is similar Half Dome and other iconic hikes. About 17,000 hikers hit the trail each year after all is said and done with the lottery, reservations, cancellations, and walk-ins. That's the capacity of a typical sports arena and a lot of human waste to deal with over a 4-month season. Especially, once above treeline and the trail is all granite and hard surface. There is no place to dig a cathole to bury your waste.

Here's a link to 2004 Environmental Assessment, which has an excellent historical record of the problem.

As you can read in the EA, the intent was to replace the old toilets, which were about 20 years old. At this point in time, a new District Ranger arrived and hired a Ranger he worked with previously where they implemented a packout waste program using bags on Mt Shasta. Within a few years, the toilets were removed and a waste packout program was implemented on Mt Whitney. There was much "lively" conversation during this time about the process and other options.

It's important to understand the implications of what happened because it affects possible alternatives for change, which is the focus of this thread.

1. The environmental process (NEPA) was not completed. The Environmental Assesment was circulated for public comments, but there was no decision document to finalize the process. Therefore, no Forest Order can be written to legally require the use of a WAG Bag. It's a voluntary system, although it's not portrayed that way. So ideas that rely on law enforcement need to understand this.

2. The Whitney trail is mostly within the John Muir Wilderness. Maintaining or replacing existing structures that are required for resource protection, such as the old toilets, is done routinely even in Wilderness areas. But building new structures in the Wilderness is very controversial. There are exceptions to Wilderness regulations, but various groups tend to fight those exceptions in court.