Leave No Trace Camping- Latrines and Catholes

Many of the places we camp are blessed with sanitation facilities; however that is not always the case. Getting rid of waste outdoors takes some thought for both health and environmental reasons.

A cathole is a single use toilet that you make yourself.  Find a spot at least 200 feet from water, campsites, and trails.  Dig a hole 6-8 inches deep.  Make sure it is still in the topsoil so that organisms in the topsoil will be available to break down your waste.  Either bury the toilet paper in the cathole, or put it into a resealable bag and carry it out with the rest of your trash.  Fill the cathole with soil (organic organisms) and replace any groundcover  (leaves.....).  Push a stick into the filled up hole to warn others against digging in the same spot.  We are trying to avoid damaging the existing plants, changing the terrain, or negatively impacting the chemistry of an area  (too much urea kills).

A latrine is a group toilet.  The location should also be away from water, campsites and trails.  Dig a shallow trench 3-4 feet long but no deeper than the topsoil.  Remove and save the soil and groundcover.  After each use, sprinkle a layer of soil into the trench to keep away flies and to hold down odors.  When you break up camp, return the rest of the soil to the latrine and replace the ground cover.



Sources:
Camping, BSA 2002 printing

Poison Ivy look alikes

Three views of poison ivy

Poison Ivy - probably the most famous poisonous plant of all.  Even Batman fights it (her).

"Leaves of three, leave it be" is the jingle we have heard universally to help us identify this plant non grata.





BUT, those of you who have been practicing your observational skills, have noticed other plants that have, or seem to have "leaves of three" that are not Poison Ivy.

Wild Raspberry

The one that I have seen adults often confuse is actually wild raspberry.  When the light is low, the wild raspberry becomes very vine like as it sends out tendrils to reproduce.These leaves are lighter in color and not as waxy as the poison ivy leaves.  The margins (outside circumference) of the leaf are also more jagged.



Another plant that can be mistaken for poison ivy to the uninformed is Virginia Creeper.  Virginia Creeper is an aggressive vine that can grow 6 feet in a short amount of time.  It often twines under leaf debris.  While the normal arrangement of leaflets is 5 arranged in a circle (palmate),  the smallest two leaflets are sometimes missing.  Again close observation of the shape of the leaves will help cast doubt on its poisonousness, but the way I end up confirming its intent is to scout around for other stems on the vine that have 5 leaflets.

The big blurry plant is wild strawberry

Finally, wild strawberry is another "leaves of three" plant.  In this case, the leaves while similar in overall shape, are different enough that this plant should not often be confused with poison ivy.  The margins are uniformly lobed.  The big yellow or white flowers and later small red strawberry fruit will help your identification also.


Practice smart outdoorsmanship:  If in doubt "leaves" it alone.

You might try looking online for more information on poison ivy
 kids site for poison ivy

What is the big deal with plant identification?

Gee, it seems as if all the early ranks require you to identify plants. Why is this a skill that is important?

1.  It improves your observational skills which can be used in many settings (including understanding people)

2. It improves your ability to discriminate between slight differences.  This can be important training for problem solving, art, technical pursuits, and logic.

3. It could keep you from suffering from Poison Ivy--and your friends from hearing you complain.

4. It could help you figure out where you are or locate water.

4. It could keep you from going hungry if you didn't pack enough.

5. It could keep you from picking up wood that would not burn well, or not provide heat.

6. In the case of cattail, it could allow you to keep warmer on a winter hike.


Although the requirements do not specify when to identify the plants, take the challenge and see if you can identify plants when they are dormant during winter.  You never know when you might need the various properties the plants can offer year round.

Some useful winter plants:
Willows- grow near water - twigs and inner bark are edible but bitter - makes poor firewood
Cattails - grows near water - fluff can be used for insulation, roots and shoots are edible (supposedly they are calorie dense which is good if you have no food during the winter)
Queen's Anne Lace - roots are edible
Yew - great firewood, burns slowly but with great heat
Ash - great firewood, burns when green
Holly - good firewood, burns when green.

A Dutch Oven for Backpacking

Going backpacking or canoeing and are disappointed you can't make some of your favorite meals because the Dutch Oven is just too heavy and cumbersome to take with you?   Despair no longer!

John G. Ragsdale in Dutch Oven Cooking  describes an oven he made out of aluminum pie pans.

These three are just to show the configuration.
You would want more sturdy pans & painted. 

He took 3 heavy gage aluminum pie pans, painted the outsides black plus one inside, and then assembled two pie pans together  with heat resistant screws so that the concave parts are facing out.

When he uses them, the  bottom pan is placed a bit above the fire on rocks or steel tent pegs and the assembled pie pans become the cover and coal holder.  Make sure the black inside surface is the coal holder, not the side next to the food.

When it is time to pack up, the screws can be undone, the pans nested and the screws reattached so that they don't get lost.

Now, that is one resourceful camper!

Chicken Provolone Scaloppine for 6

This might be one to try if you anticipate needing to release some frustrations

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts --pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
1 1/2 teaspoon crushed sage
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 slices provolone
4 Tablespoon butter, melted
1/3 cup bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons Romano cheese, grated
2 Tablespoons parsley

Sprinkle chicken with sage and pepper.  Place Provolone on chicken and role up, jellyroll style.  Secure with toothpick.  Dip chicken in butter.  Coat with bread crumb, Romano cheese, parsley.  Bake 45 minutes at 350.

Chicken Fricassee with Dumplings for 8

5-6 pounds of fryer chicken cut up
4 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoon  shortening
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3 cup milk
4 Tablespoon butter
2 cups Bisquick
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
Water

Mix salt, paprika and pepper in plastic bag. (Could use Shake and Bake or other premixed seasonings) Shake 2-3 pieces of chicken at a time in bag to coat.  Melt shortening and butter in large skillet or Dutch oven.  brown chicken on all sides.  Remove chicken and stir in soup and milk and replace chicken.  Cover and simmer about 1 hour or until thickest pieces are tender.  Twenty minutes before the end of cooking, prepare dumpling dough.  Drop dough by spoonfuls onto hot chicken.  Cook uncovered 10 minutes, cover and cook 10 minutes longer.  Yield 8 servings

Dumpling:  Add poultry seasoning, parsley and Bisquick with enough water to make a soft dough.


Recipe courtesy of Cathy Laskowski from Feeding the Flock, pg 57

Chocolate pudding pie for 8

This sounds really interesting and does not require fresh milk.

Graham cracker crust
Chocolate chips     1 cup
Sweetened condensed milk    14 oz can

Put the chocolate chips in the bottom of the crust.  Pour the milk over it. Bake for 25 min or until pudding is browning on edge.  Cool and cut into 8 servings.

If you decide to make the crust:
2 cups cracker crumbs
3 Tablespoons  sugar
3/4 cup butter
Melt butter in pan.  Add crumb and sugar mixture to pan and mix to coat crumbs.  Press the buttery crumbs onto the sides and bottom of the pan.


Inspired by:
Dutch Oven Cooking 4th edition, John G. Ragsdale pg 72