Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Cleaning Up - WAGing and Gagging

Howdy folks, I have done Whitney twice now. My first time was a spiritual one day up with an even more spiritual cheeseburger and beer at the store after. Last week was my first camping trip up there, I went over to Consultation Lake and geeked out on how great it was. (And this time I was smart enough to buy Doug's book and have him sign it for me at the store afterwards).

The only thing that bummed me out were the ton of WAG bags and trash that were thrown over the side of the slab on the way down to Consultation. The main trail isn't that bad, but the spur to the lake looks like a darn latrine--

I have gotten my summits in this year so I don't need to hit the peak again again, but I am hoping to head up only to the switchbacks and clean bags/trash all the way down.

Does this august group have any suggestions on the best the best way to get a permit to get up there, I reached out to the rangers/eastern sierra visitors center but no answer; the Sierra Trash Eliminators facebook page looks not as altitude focused; etc.

Any idea?

Cheers,
CW

I've been wondering if there would be a way to imprint a barcode on the wag bag that can be scanned. The bar code would be linked to a person's permit information. When the person returns from his/her hike he/she would need to scan the wag bag and place in a receptacle marked used or unused. The receptacle would have the ability to scan the barcode. If the wag bag is not returned the person would receive an expensive fine and be unable to apply for future permits. That fine could be used to maintain Mt. Whitney trails and programs.

The major issue with this is people will just 'go' wherever and not use the wag bag bringing the unused bag down to avoid the fine, but also avoid having to carry their poop. The better solution is to find a way to install some sort of composting toilets up there. They make it work on Rainier in the snowy conditions - it has to be possible on Whitney

There was a toilet at Trail Camp... The FS burned it to the ground (really...a couple of us watched it on a climb) and cleaned up the mess.

I've also noticed that the Wag Bag count has increased over the past few months... I'm actually a little scared of using Trailside Meadow as a water source because of the number of WBs I've seen on the "shortcut" to Consultation Lake over the years.

BTW, there also used to be a "throne" on the summit... I used it a few times before it disappeared...

Dr. Rockwell used to suggest that the FS drill a deep hole, put a toilet seat on top of it, cap it when full and do it over again...

My opinion has always been that WBs are doomed to be an Epic Fail...

BTW2, I once climbed down the bowl from Trail Crest in summer...by the time I reached Trail Camp, I had 2 large garbage bags of plastic bottles... There were a couple of FS Rangers up there who relieved me of the load...