Backpacker – August 2019

JULY/AUGUST 2019

112 BACKPACKER.COM

PHOTOS BY ISTOCK

YOUR FOOD TASTES LIKE NOTHING.

Spices are basically weightless. Start with one teaspoon of each spice or herb, and tweak according to taste.

Sweet Cinna mon + nutmeg

+ maple granules + ground

cloves

Savory O n ion /g a rl ic

powder + dried

pa rsley + dr y

mustard + pepper

Hot Ground habañero

chiles + chili powder +

smoked salt +

ground pepper

The spice is wrong? Buy

prepackaged, like Mural

of Flavor or Sunny Paris

blends at penzeys.com.

You only pack sweet snacks. Don’t

neglect the salt. Your body needs

electrolytes. (Plus, no variety in the

snack bag leads to food fatigue,

which leads to bonking.)

You let someone reach into your

gorp bag. Gross! You don’t know

where those hands have been (see

above). When sharing food, pour

it out.

You sleep naked. Skinny-sleepers

offl oad sweat and body oils, which

diminish a bag’s loft, so they need to

wash theirs more often. Baselayers

make the best PJs.

You forget stuff. Make a laminated

packing list—one for dayhikes,

another for backpacking trips. Run

through your checklist before you

head out.

YOU’RE

DOING IT

WRONG! HEALTH & HYGIENE

QUICK
FIX

The Doo-Dos

1. Go at least 200 feet from water, trails, or
   campsites.


2. Dig a 6-inch-deep cathole or trench.


3. Squat over your hole (it’s surprisingly
   easy to aim) with your weight on the balls
   of your feet. Rest your haunches on your
   heels if you’re coordinated enough—the
   last thing you want is quivering quads when
   you’re mid-biz. Grab a tree trunk or branch
   for balance.


4. Bury your TP (still LNT-approved!) and
   cover it with the dirt you excavated. Better:
   Use a “natural TP” like snow, a smooth
   rock, or a leaf (and bury that, too).


5. Wash your hands with soap. Every time.

The Doo-Don’ts

1. Burning your TP can spark a wildfi re. Bury it
   instead or pack it out.


2. Rocks and sticks are no match for trowels
   when it comes to digging.


3. No soil, no free-range poo. (Dirt digests the
   droppings.) That goes for deserts, canyons,
   tundra, scree, talus (hard no to pooping on
   a rock and shot-putting it), snow, and water
   trips. Use a WAG bag instead.


4. Never crap in a slope’s main drainage, no
   matter how far you are from the actual
   water. Can’t hold it? WAG it.


5. Hand sanitizer is not enough. Alcohol-
   based, leave-on hand sanitizers can’t clean
   up messes.

You’re taking a dump wrong.

6”