The reality of the situation is that hikers are not united on the issue and the Rangers do not want to maintain toilets. One Ranger was quoted referring to picking up errant wag bags as, "job security." Another thinks they should hire more Rangers just to pick up bags. Really they have more important stuff to do than deal with human waste. Contracting out toilet maintenance would get them out of this mess and provide the best environmental protection. But some hikers insist this heavily impacted area is some kind of pristine wilderness and they ignore that there are toilets in wilderness areas all over the Sierras.
If one reads through all the posts in
the other thread, it becomes apparent that ideas and support are all over the map. There is no consensus among hikers, and a less than positive attitude within the Forest Service. The old toilets were burned down without a decent alternate plan, so now we're left with the only option of packing out the poop ourselves. Thank you Garry Oye.
It has been shown that in other locations, it can work with better-designed toilets. But that requires a whole lot more support than we have in the Whitney Zone.
