Overuse Study Part 197: Hiker pee polluting lakes
Posted: Dec 27 2021 9:19 pm
It's the caffeine! ](./images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
https://coloradosun.com/2021/12/27/urin ... human-pee/
Humans, all jacked up on Mountain Dew and their backpack-sized French presses, leave caffeine behind when they go where they’re not supposed to go. Track the caffeine at Loch Vale, about 3 miles up the Glacier Gorge trail, and the human portion of the nitrogen that feeds damaging algae in alpine waters suddenly becomes clear.
That hikers are ignoring universal rules of the trail demanding they relieve themselves at least 100 feet from water sources is observable truth, Nydick said. Every time a trail crew turns over a rock on a maintenance or building job, Nydick said, they find piles of toilet paper and human waste. Walk a few feet off any RMNP trail in almost any direction, she added, and many of your discoveries will be unnatural. And disgusting.
Emphasis mine. When did American culture make it automatic to pick up after a dog?What messaging works with visitors remains an ongoing experiment, Patterson noted. RMNP started putting “wag bags” for dog waste at trailheads some time ago, and pickup of that concept was by no means immediate, she said. It took awhile in American culture for it to become automatic to pick up after your dog, especially in what appears to be wide open space. Persuading hikers to bag and carry out their personal waste is next-level, she noted.
https://coloradosun.com/2021/12/27/urin ... human-pee/