Poo and pee - no sniggering
There it is! The little camping spot you've been scouting around for among the boulders. Yup...it's flat enough, looks green enough for easy pegging, brilliant. And the stream is only a few yards away.
Wait, what's that flapping at the far end of the patch - a bit of cloth or something. No, oh no, you realise with that curious mixture of revulsion, resignation and fury, it's toilet paper - used toilet paper perched on a pile of crap, lying there like some sort of offering on a flat stone.
Someone had left the path, as you did, and poked about the stream bank for some distance to find the prettiest, most sheltered and secluded spot, and had a dump in it.
That little scenario has happened to - or awaits - most backpackers. Walkers looking for picnic spots will have had similar experiences.
The example above is a real one. What was even worse about it was that it looked like whoever had squatted among the boulders had camped there. An unusual case of shitting on your own doorstep.
When you've got to go, you've got to go. But merely finding a place where you can't be seen and squatting just isn't good enough. It's guaranteed that the next person looking for such a spot - probably for a different purpose - will unerringly find their way directly to the scene.
Sanitation is not the subject on which outdoor dreams are based - but walkers and backpackers must address it. Here's Treadsoftly's sanitation basics:
A starting point must be that if it is possible to use a proper toilet for a crap, do so - at a pub you pass at lunchtime, or hold on until the car park you're due to reach in an hour.
Where this isn't possible, the rule is - bury it. This is not to suggest that you must dig a pit and pour buckets of disinfectant into it. A shallow hole, six to eight inches deep if possible, is about right. Any deeper and insects and bacteria will not be as effective in breaking down the faeces.
Use a knife or trowel (a boot heel will do if necessary) to dislodge a small piece of turf, dig your hole, do the business, cover with soil and pop the turf back into place. If it is completely safe to do so and we mean completely safe - burn toilet paper before covering. If you have any doubts about fire at all, just bury everything unburnt.
Sanitary towels or tampons can be disposed of in a similar way but preferably should be bagged and packed out.
Where should you dig? Well certainly not where the character in the above example chose, right next to a stream. Given that someone downstream may be drinking that water, areas near water should be avoided. Advice on how far away from water is permissible varies - we say at least 200 metres/yards away from a water source is the minimum.
Accepting those basic rules, other than that look for somewhere well off the beaten track and use common sense about location. Our primary thought must be not our convenience but the welfare and experience of others.
In winter in the UK, snow is rarely deep enough to prevent clearing enough ground to dig a hole - though if the ground is frozen hard, you have a problem. You could improvise by covering the faeces as thoroughly as possible with stones. Or you could take a leaf out of many dog-owners' books - scoop it up, pop it into a strong plastic bag or six, and pack it out with you.
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