Female Hygiene for Long Distance Hiking

Hi there! Disclaimer: I do not pretend to be an expert on this topic, however I am here to share what has worked for me in terms of personal hygiene in the backcountry. I’m writing this post as an addendum to a presentation Dillon created for a class on hiking the JMT that he gave at REI, where he works. Some of the participants were interested in hearing my experience with female hygiene on the trail, and so in putting this together for them I thought I might as well put it out there on the blog for anyone else who might be looking for such a resource for their future adventures. Or maybe you’re just curious how I survive as a female in the wilderness. I’m not judging, you do you. It’s about to get real so if you think this is TMI, now is your chance to look away.

1. Going to the Bathroom in the Wilderness:
   When I first started hiking, I was a drip-dry type of girl. This was fine for day hikes, but on my first backpacking trip a few years ago, by the end of those 3 days I swear I smelled like pee. I was mortified. So on my next few extended trips, I started bringing toilet paper and packing it out in black ziploc bags. Black bags (can be found on Amazon) are great for privacy, since if you are using toilet paper to wipe for #1 or #2 you NEED to pack it out to follow Leave No Trace (LNT) principles. Seriously, do not bury or burn your TP. Animals WILL dig that stuff up and I don’t think any of us want to see toilet paper littering the trails or the surrounding wilderness we’re all trying to enjoy. Anyway, in one of the many Facebook JMT groups I belong to I eventually heard about the Kula cloth, which changed my hiker life forever. Pee cloths were not new to me, I had heard of women using a bandana as a “pee rag” which they’d use to wipe and then tie to the outside of their pack to dry and be sanitized by the sun. But I was terrified of smelling like pee. Enter the Kula cloth. This is a reusable, antimicrobial pee cloth that snaps onto the outside of your pack, especially designed so that it doesn’t smell after use (seriously! I used it on the JMT and never smelled it once.) It has a black absorbent side and a waterproof side with pretty designs to choose from. The pee doesn’t soak through, I promise. One thing to remember is that you aren’t supposed to wipe from front to back as with TP, but keep the Kula in the “pee-zone” to avoid any cross-contamination, since it’s reusable. It’s easy to wash with a few drops of biodegradable soap and water. I really only washed it with water while I was on the trail, and washed it with soap whenever I was in town and had access to a sink. After using it I would fold it in half and snap it shut for extra discretion. I hiked the entire JMT and Mt. Whitney before a random man on the trail finally asked me what my Kula cloth was. I’m pretty open so I just thought it was funny, but the guy clearly wished he hadn’t asked. One more note about why I love the Kula cloth- it eliminates excess moisture down there, which can lead to yeast infections. I personally am prone to these and getting one on the trail is one of my worst fears. The antimicrobial Kula cloth paired with my ExOfficio brand moisture-wicking underwear have worked best for me in preventing such issues.
   
   For going #2, I use toilet paper and baby wipes, all of which I pack out in those black ziploc bags I mentioned earlier. I’ve seen a lot of talk on my Facebook groups of people using bidets for cleanup, which essentially look like a squirt bottle and may help you even further reduce your TP usage on the trail. I’m not quite there yet but it seems like a good LNT idea. It’s also important to bury your waste at least 6 inches deep, 200 feet from trails, water sources, and campsites. I used baby wipes or hand sanitizer to wash my hands after going to the bathroom, but you can also use biodegradable soap and water if you prefer.
   
2. Getting my Period in the Wilderness:
   So I must admit that I have been pretty lucky in my backpacking career in that I have been on my period for a grand total of 1 day in the backcountry. And what better day to have started my period than on my final day on the JMT, the very same day I summited Mt. Whitney. I have never felt so badass. And I have never been so happy that I discovered the menstrual cup. I have a knockoff version of the Diva Cup called the Duchess Cup which I got on Amazon and tried at home before hiking the JMT. It definitely took some practice and getting used to taking the thing in and out, so I recommend trying it at home not only over the comfort of your toilet but also in a weird squatting position in your bathroom since, you know, there are no toilets in the wilderness. To dispose of blood on the trail make sure you are 200 feet from the trail itself and water sources, just as with other types of human waste, and dig a 6-8 inch cathole. To be safe I would rinse the cup out with filtered water before reusing it. You can also clean it in boiling water between uses, but I don’t think that’s entirely necessary.
   
   If menstrual cups are just not for you, that’s fine. Plenty of women use tampons in the backcountry and just like TP, these need to be packed out in ziploc bags. It’s a good idea to bring unscented tampons, otherwise they will need to go in your bear canister. Whatever you are using, it’s good practice to wash your hands in some capacity both before and after doing so.
   
3. Bathing in the Wilderness:
   I’m using the term “bathing” very lightly here, as the majority of my baths on the trail are wet wipe baths. Wiping down at the end of the night is usually enough to tide me over until I can take a real shower. There have been a couple of times where I wiped down with a wet bandana or submerged as much of myself as I could handle in a lake/river during a lunch break. Since I don’t use any sunscreen or bug spray I don’t worry about rinsing off before getting into the water. I know that others, such as my boyfriend, will sometimes take a “shower” with biodegradable soap and water, away from water sources. I have not yet been so desperate as it was usually cold by the time we got into camp on the JMT, or the mosquitoes were out in full force.
   
4. Laundry:
   Along the JMT specifically, there are 2 places to do real laundry: Red’s Meadow Resort and Vermilion Valley Resort. We also hiked out to Independence and stayed at the Mt. Williamson Motel where they did our laundry FOR us and gave us loaner clothes. This was so worth the money. Otherwise, we rinsed some of our clothes every few days with water usually during our lunch breaks, and hung them on our packs to dry while we hiked the rest of the day. We did real laundry (with soap) on the trail one night when we got to camp relatively early. To do this, we emptied our bear canisters and put water and soap into one for the “wash cycle” and just water into the other for the “rinse cycle.” After putting our clothes through each cycle we hung them to dry on a clothesline, and on some rocks and branches around camp. We made sure to dump our soapy, dirty water 200 feet from the water source.
   
5. Medications:
   I’m including this category here as it partially relates to female health. Personally, I brought ibuprofen, zyrtec, and my birth control prescription on the JMT. We kept the ibuprofen and zyrtec in our first aid kit, and my birth control was in the brain of my backpack along with my comb, which we kept in the vestibule of the tent overnight. I do not feel that these items needed to go in our bear canisters, but you might hear different opinions from others. We kept all food, garbage, and smellables such as wipes, chapstick, deodorant (my luxury item), and toothpaste/toothbrushes in our bear canisters overnight. Side note about the deodorant: I just don’t like the way it feels to NOT wear deodorant. I’ve done it on previous backpacking trips and I just feel so much better wearing it. It’s not about the smell, because I definitely still smelled like “hiker trash.” The moral of the story is, hike your own hike. Do what you need to do and bring what you need to bring in order to feel comfortable, otherwise you might not enjoy yourself as much as you could.
   
6. Contacts:
   I wear daily (disposable) contacts most days in the real world, and I feel more comfortable hiking in them than in my glasses. I brought 25 pairs of dailies for my 19 day JMT hike, plus for the day before and after when I’d be staying in a hotel, and a few extra just in case I dropped one. I also had to make sure I had enough baby wipes to wash my hands with before taking them out/putting them in my eyes. At a certain point along the JMT we started using alcohol wipes from the first aid kit to wash our fingers so that we could save our precious wipes for our wet wipe baths. I do also always bring my glasses on backpacking trips for night time after I take my contacts out, and just in case something happens to my contacts or my eyes. For instance, I was happy to have my glasses on the JMT for the day where my left eye mysteriously hurt and was watery for most of the day for no apparent reason, and I was able to give my eyes a break from the contacts.

Overall, I’ve fine-tuned my routines over the past few years based on what works best for me personally. Find what works for you, within the Leave No Trace guidelines, and hike your own hike! I’m happy to help and answer any questions you may have. Happy trails!