People seem to really miss the outdoors that they’re answering nature’s call in nature, or maybe they’ve lost all sense of civilisation after being locked up at home for months on end.
Trails Association Of Kuala Lumpur & Selangor (TRAKS) had to release a public service announcement (PSA) on their Facebook page after a bunch of hikers (or maybe even bikers) decided to leave ‘piles of shit’ and toilet paper on the trails of Bukit Kiara, a popular hiking spot located within TTDI and Mont Kiara.
“With pesky humans back in the Great Outdoors, the poo monster has returned to Bukit Kiara. Piles of shit and toilet paper have been left on Lower Short, Magic Carpet and 2K in the past couple of weeks,” they wrote in a post.
They then advised hikers to take a dump at home or use the toilets provided at the location, but if all else fails and you just NEED TO GO, they also posted a series of guidelines demonstrating how one can take a poop when the situation calls for it.
- Don’t poop on or near a trail
- Don’t poop near a water source
They explained that at Bukit Kiara, there are a couple of water sources that you can drink from, so pooping near one is just disgusting and highly inconsiderate. I mean, you wouldn’t want to drink water that’s tainted with someone else’s poop.
These rules not only apply to camp sites, but to any place where you can hike, run or mountain bike.
When digging a ‘shit hole’, leave a distance of 200 feet (or 70 steps) between the water and the pooping site as shown in the illustration below.
The hole needs to be at least six to eight inches deep and four inches wide. After taking a dump, please, please, please cover it up with soil and don’t forget to ‘tapau’ your toilet paper.
Another alternative in a poop emergency is to carry a WAG bag with you. A WAG (Waste Alleviation and Gelling) bag is something like a portable toilet. It includes a waste collection bag pre-loaded with a special kind of powder that gels your poop together so that it doesn’t spill. You can get them from Amazon.
Still unsure what to do if you have to poop while hiking? Ask yourself these questions:
We get it, hiking makes you want to poop sometimes. Thus, it’s always better to go prepared to ensure that it doesn’t happen. But if you find yourself in a situation when you just cannot hold it in any longer, please be responsible for your own poop and be considerate of others when choosing a location to take a dump.
When they say ‘the world is your oyster’ they don’t mean take a dump wherever you please.
Also read: Broga Hill Ordered To Close After Crowd of Hikers Violate SOP