Sleeping in shitboxes?

[Bobonli]

Totally agree. ?Be prepared? in 2021 is not the same as it was in 1984 or even 2004. Different generations view these things thru their own lenses. I?ve become painfully aware of this over the last year hiking where people are out in the middle of nowhere with flip flops on and ask ?Where am I and how do I get to my car??
Me: Where did you park?
Them: Not sure, there was a field with a horse in it!
Me: How long have you been hiking?
Them: not sure we don?t have a watch or even a phone!

My point is that you may be advocating for something that is unachievable given generational changes in the people engaging in the pursuits. The people heading out on a race who are willing to leave their bivvy at home are probably also shitting behind buildings and not practicing LNT, and/or hitching a discrete ride in a vehicle and they don?t see it as abnormal; it?s their normal.

I hope I?m wrong and just a cynical NYer.

[Bobonli]

More importantly, I would like to know why this web forum sees a particular punctuation mark and replaces it with a question mark.

[taprider]

"test"

[taprider]

and yes I agree with discouraging the use of toilets for sleeping quarters
For the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, both sides were occupied by sleeping guys by the time I got there
Luckily I didn't need to BM until after they left in the morning, so I didn't think much of it at the time.

[Tubby Tortoise]

I remember Kurt Refsnider making a comment during a podcast interview (can't remember which one) that made me believe he thought it shouldn't be done.  I was surprised at the time because I thought it was pretty normal and somewhat expected.  I'm not a racer and hadn't given much thought to it, but I can certainly see why it could be problematic.

[ScottM]

This thread is classic MikeC and it makes me smile a little.

I also think he's right.  Sleeping in restrooms should not be encouraged and I am a little puzzled as to why it seems to be becoming more common. 

I have to admit some responsibility for having 'glorified' (?) the concept in a writeup of a tour of the AZT in which Ez and I slept in the large restroom area in the backcountry office on the north rim.  There was a space heater cranking in there and we left pre-dawn in an attempt to not bother anyone.  We were prepared to camp that night and even though it dipped into the low teens I highly doubt I would have considered an outhouse (meaning pit toilet).  Can't say I have ever slept in an outhouse -- it would have to be an emergency.

I try to set what I consider to be a good example, but this is one case where I failed.  Sorry folks.

I vaguely remember hearing some reports of multiple racers tying up outhouses in the AZTR and was not pleased about it.  I understand that things happen and if it's an emergency, sure.  But sleeping in one just because you're going to be somewhat cold that night?  Hmmm, I think this should generally be frowned upon, especially in places where bike/bikepacking access is tenuous (like the north rim, where I set the bad example).

Thanks for still being around Mike, keeping us honest.

[MikeC]

Thanks for the thoughts -- and coming clean -- Scott.

We all make mistakes.  It's what we do after those that matters.

[sfuller]

Super late to this thread. I've seen mention of it in stories in The Cordillera and I did it at Holland Lake Campground in 2015 to escape the wind coming off the lake. Three racers at the campground at the time, and 4 other campers, 1 in a pop-up camper, and 3 in RVs that obviously had their own facilities. Multiple Montana Hilton's at the campground, so I didn't personally have any issues using one of them to sleep in. The one I chose smelled and looked like it had been just cleaned, so I felt it was "safe enough" to use. Had it been the only unit at the campground, I certainly would have figured something else out. 6+ years later, and I'd probably make a different choice.

[BigPoppa]

Thanks for the thoughts -- and coming clean -- Scott.

We all make mistakes.  It's what we do after those that matters.

?Coming clean??. I see what you did there. 😂

I too have pushed sleeping in an out house as being the equivalent of the Ritz?. Looking back, probably not the best representation of bikepackers.

Although it did give me an advantage one time. I was asleep in one on the Divide in 2011 and Aidan Harding did want to disturb me when he had to drop a ***. It slowed him down a bit on the descent to Sargent. (He still beat me by 5 days.)