By Cliff Stockton

After being involved in Wilderness therapy for 20 years I get asked a lot of questions. By far the biggest group of questions involve.well . (insert squeamish face).just how "yucky " it is.

"Why does it have to be so dirty?"
"Can't they shower every day?"
"How do they stay clean?"
"What about clean clothes?"
"What about brushing their teeth?"
And the ultimate question: "How do you go to the bathroom outside?"

When I first started in wilderness therapy, 20 years ago, most of the parents who enrolled their children were themselves experienced in the etiquette of the wild. They not only were aware of the difficulties of living outside, but saw their child's experience coping with those difficulties as a positive. Specifically, they sought a therapeutic experience that included those elements, because they knew from their own experiences how valuable they are.

Currently many, even a majority, of parents who are contemplating a wilderness intervention for their child have limited wilderness experience; many have never even been camping. Trying to describe current practices in outdoor hygiene is little like trying to describe a strawberry to someone who has never eaten one. I will do my best, but, the best explanation for a strawberry is eating one, and the best explanation of current outdoor hygienic practices is to experience it.

All wilderness programs that I am aware of operate partially on public land, either BLM or National Forrest Service. As part of the programs operating procedures they require that LNT (Leave No Trace) camping techniques be used. These procedures are different for different environments. What is an acceptable procedure in deciduous forests does not work in deserts, and inside those environments other factors also come into play.

For example let us consider a family vacation of a lifetime rafting down the Grand Canyon. This would be a big deal for any family and the opportunity would not be squandered due to some unease about the bathroom facilities, or lack thereof. The rafting company would explain the rules very carefully to you. When you urinate, pee into the river, not on the sand, and definitely not on the canyon walls, rocks or any vegetation. They also will introduce you to a device for transporting solid human waste such as a "Groover" or another funny sounding name.

Now depending on how much you spent on your dream vacation they might ("might" mind you), have a nice enclosure surrounding said poop packer, normally it is just set off to a side, sorta-outa sight. Polite etiquette on these trips is not to look at people sitting on the portable human waste device. Any paper you use must go into the trash, not into the scat packer.
Following your time on the portable throne, others will watch you carry your soiled paper, hopefully in a nice tight little wad, back to the campsite to be properly placed in the trash, which is also carried with you. Should you return to camp without this bundle of joy, they would politely (or not so
politely) instruct you to go back and get it. Because it cannot be in the device at the take out, and someone, in fact probably the guide would have to stir the pot to get out any contraband in the poop. Nasty, so don't drop it in there, period, or leave an outlandish tip to the guide for having to go through a stinking container of poo from a 2 week camping trip for your carelessly discarded paper.

After the first couple of days on the river, you would begin to notice that others, even yourself began to smell a little different than you are used to. Wearing scented deodorant and other scented products is discouraged. If you were taking this trip into Bear country the guides would search your gear and confiscate any scented products as bears love perfume, and really like people who wear it. So, no one uses it and everyone begins to smell the same. Initially, you may try and wash daily which is not that practical and really not that effective in the dirty water and it most likely not be that warm either. There are lots of reasons not to bath every day, in fact most wear the same set of clothes, every day from beginning to end, for as long as two weeks.

Within about 4-5 days you don't even notice how others smell, and you don't really notice how you smell either. It just seems to go away. At several points along the river there are places to bathe, typically a side stream that has clean water. The guides will prepare you for a trip to the baths.
Now, you can't put soap into the water of these streams so you get buckets of water, walk away from the stream and take a sponge bath with a little bit of campsuds or Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap and rinse. After you are clean and rinsed then you can do a final rinse in the clean water of the stream and based on how cold the water is will determine how long you "rinse", typically not long at all.

After getting off the river you and your family are usually so hungry that the first priority is food not a bath. So off the nearest eatery and a plate of the biggest cheeseburgers you can handle you go. While you are eating it you might notice that others around you are beginning to comment about the aroma that you have. "Aha" you say, "I stink" and then off to a shower and some fresh, or mostly fresh, clothes. The grimy, stained and odiferous clothes that you have been living in for a couple of weeks go into a plastic bag for the trip back home. After you launder the clothing you will still be reminded of the trip by the vague odor that remains on them.

The process is not much different when your child is in a wilderness program. The program would have procedures that meet BLM or NFS guidelines for human waste, be it cat holes, common latrines, "Wag bags" or even "Smearing". Toilet paper may be provided, but the same process of carrying it out will be in place. Some environments permit the burning of the "poo paper" in the fire after food preparations are done. Most programs will allow the use of natural materials in lieu of paper which do not have to brought back to camp, other require that natural materials be used.

Opportunities to bathe would be limited, and can be at times inconvenient.
It is not uncommon for students to be dismissive of taking a bath, because it doesn't seem important, or they are cold, or busy or a hundred other reasons. They just don't think it's that important. Clothing changes are limited to underwear because you really don't want to carry more clothes than you have to. Really, the daily task of cleanliness gets down to brushing your teeth regularly (strongly suggested), washing your face daily
(preferred) and washing your hands prior to preparing or eating food (required).

If these conditions bother you, you should probably not consider a wilderness option for your child. They would become a distraction for you and your child, limiting yours and their ability to benefit from being truly engaged in wilderness living. If the wilderness program promises more, say daily shower opportunities, then they are really not engaged, it is more of a summer camp setting and will limit your child's ability to benefit be being truly "out there".

Take a deep breath and understand that being dirty is not the same as being unhygienic, that humans naturally have an odor about them and showers and laundries do magic on people and clothes. With time you will realize that the benefits of being truly engaged in a wilderness program overwhelming outweigh the temporary inconvenience of being a little dirty and smelly.

Cliff Stockton has extensive experience working in wilderness based therapy in many different capacities. For more information, visit www.cliffstockton.com, or contact him at cliff@cliffstockton.com or 208-308-3166.