From: Alan and/or Brenda Thomson (abthomson@goes.com)
Date: Wed Dec 19 2001 - 21:35:59 CST
Donald S. Roberts asks....
Hmm, I thought the left over food went in the sump, no? Do crews carry the
bags and packaging for the whole trek? Are there intermediate dump sites?
Seems like the bear bags would get kinda full by the end of a trek. Can
some of the packaging be discarded at the pick up site to decrease the trash
to carry?
Answer...
Only dirty water goes down into the sump. Crew gear issued by Philmont
includes a "sump frisbee" - a actual frisbee with many VERY tiny holes. The
final wash water is strained through the frisbee into the sump, using a
spatula to try and squeeze as much particle matter through the VERY tiny
holes as possible - but not much goes through. What is left in the frisbee
after all the water drains through goes into the "yum-yum" bag (i.e. wet
trash), which goes up in the bear bag with all the dry trash. Of course,
the way to minimize that material was to make sure the pots and dishes had
virtually no solid matter in them when you start cleanup - scrape, lick, and
swallow as much as possible.
Regarding garbage, in the past staff at staffed camps would take
"compressed" garbage, and was creative in determining if enough was squeezed
into a small enough package to be accepted. The "yum-yum" bag was supposed
to be carried the entire trek. Last summer, in response to the bear
problems, staff took garbage with no questions asked. And stripping away
packaging at the commissaries (back country pickup locations) is a great
idea - every ounce you discard there is weight you are not carrying in your
pack. Leave any unopened food items your crew does not want in swap boxes
at the commissaries or staffed camps.
- Al Thomson, Troop 236, Schooley's Mountain, NJ
2001 703E11 Trek 21
2000 Autumn Adventure
1999 703K2 Trek 9 (now 4)
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