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Quetico campsite hygiene (Read 5783 times)
alanfine
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Quetico campsite hygiene
May 1st, 2017 at 8:34pm
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Hi all,
I am planning a trip in the Quetico this Summer. Haven't been up there in several years, only in the BWCA the last few trips.
On my most recent trips to Quetico the conditions around many campsites were really awful. Improper toilet pits and toilet paper strewn about and blowing around. Wondering if things have improved any.
alan
  
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solotripper
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Re: Quetico campsite hygiene
Reply #1 - May 1st, 2017 at 10:39pm
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I haven't run into any real bad campsites but have seen a few where people tried to burn garbage/TP in the firepit and it didn't work.

Other trip reports have reported some nasty sites.
I go early spring, so it's not a problem then or mid-Sept which could be?

Being solo I make a point of trying NOT to stay at those 5 star sites unless they're just too good to pass up.

Sadly you'll find PIGS anywhere but getting a little off the most popular routes/campsites will lessen that possibility considerably IMHO.
  
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Jimbo
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Re: Quetico campsite hygiene
Reply #2 - May 1st, 2017 at 11:10pm
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Ditto.

Nasty campsites are the exception, not the rule in Quetico.  I have @ 30 trips there under my belt & this has always been my experience.

Solotripper's advice re: time of year and going deeper into the park are right on the mark.

On those rare occasions when I have encountered such conditions, I have notified park authorities. They seemed very concerned and promised to address the situation as soon as possible. 

That's my experience, anyway.

Jimbo.  Cool
  
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jimmar
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Re: Quetico campsite hygiene
Reply #3 - May 1st, 2017 at 11:42pm
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I concur.  In the past 11 years tripping in Quetico I've only found littered campsites a few times. Everyone has a different level tolerance for others garbage left behind, but the worst ones were the five star sites. Some 5 stars are indeed quite nice (thinking fondly of one on Sturgeon Lake with its own private little sand beach) but the unmarked / unrated sites can be gems.
  
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TomT
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Re: Quetico campsite hygiene
Reply #4 - May 2nd, 2017 at 2:40am
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jimmar wrote on May 1st, 2017 at 11:42pm:
I concur.  In the past 11 years tripping in Quetico I've only found littered campsites a few times. Everyone has a different level tolerance for others garbage left behind, but the worst ones were the five star sites. Some 5 stars are indeed quite nice (thinking fondly of one on Sturgeon Lake with its own private little sand beach) but the unmarked / unrated sites can be gems.


I found a terrible 4 star site on Sunday Lake last Sept. but don't remember any others in a long time.  I tend to go in a ways and mostly like the smaller sites when solo.  I'd say it's rare that the site won't be left in good if not great shape once you get a couple of days away from the entry. 

You still can't help the riff raff though.  On Sunday I found human feces under two rocks right in the main camp area.  someone just dropped a deuce and threw a rock from the fireplace on top.  Cretins I tell ya.
  
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PhantomJug
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Re: Quetico campsite hygiene
Reply #5 - May 2nd, 2017 at 12:26pm
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I will venture to guess that this is a southern entry issue?  Northern campsites, even on the perimeter lakes our experience is that they are always very clean, even in August.  Periodic garbage and even exposed TP back in the woods doesn't concern me much.  It's the TP in close proximity to the campsite that I don't understand.
  
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squigman
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Re: Quetico campsite hygiene
Reply #6 - May 2nd, 2017 at 12:46pm
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I found the same thing last time I was in the Quetico.  We stopped at a popular campsite 3/4 the way down Quetico Lake that we always use, and there was human shit covered up with pine needles right smack dab in the middle of the campsite (not going to tell you how my brother found it, but we now name that site "poop that shoe"), and a couple bushes around the perimeter of the site had toilet paper and shit next to them.  Never seen such a thing in Quetico in all the years I've been there.  Disgusting and disgraceful.
  
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Old Salt
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Re: Quetico campsite hygiene
Reply #7 - May 2nd, 2017 at 1:02pm
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Perhaps instead of star ratings, we should use 'white rose' ratings? Shocked
  
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Jimbo
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Re: Quetico campsite hygiene
Reply #8 - May 2nd, 2017 at 1:46pm
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Old Salt wrote on May 2nd, 2017 at 1:02pm:
Perhaps instead of star ratings, we should use 'white rose' ratings? Shocked


Hmmm... I suppose that approach is more aesthetically-pleasing than  more descriptive 1 thru 5 ratings of 'Terrible Turds.'

I know, I know... my approach stinks.

Jimbo   Cool
  
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solotripper
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Re: Quetico campsite hygiene
Reply #9 - May 2nd, 2017 at 2:33pm
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Jimbo, since the BWJ has decided that giving 1-5 star ratings to campsites which IMHO is a BIG mistake, they might want to add the another rating  Wink Huh

How about 1-5 White Rose's.

Or maybe 1-5 Pepe Le Pew's? Being French it sounds classier even when it STINKS.  Wink Grin Grin
  
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