Location: Lake Hoare, Taylor Valley, Antarctica
Weather: 5F

THE ROCKET TOILET

The rocket toilet is the "preferred" way of depositing solid human waste here at camp. You ask, "why is it called the Rocket Toilet?", well, it uses propane to turn human waste into ash so it is easily removed from the Dry Valleys, but the name comes from an "incidence" a couple of years ago when the propane got out of hand.

Speaking of the Rocket Toilet, environmental issues are the highest priority of life here in the Dry Valleys. Not a single human generated piece of waste ever remains here. All water that is used for cleaning dishes, hands, and ourselves (shower day is every Sunday) gets canned up for disposal in the US. Along with the water, human waste (both), food trash, plastic, burnables, miscellaneous debris, everything, eventually makes its way to Port Hueneme, California for disposal.

As a few of you know I have some particular vices, and I bottle that waste too.

With doing all of this we are adhering to the International Antarctic Treaty, but beyond that, if you could see the sun shining in the valley at night or the clouds over the Asgard Range you wouldn't want to change a thing or leave any mess behind. I'll end with a promise from the camp manager: it really is supposed to warm up here at some point...I can't really believe that yet (Shackleton would be laughing). However, the sun floods the valley every night at 9:30pm for an hour and the radiated heating made it absolutely balmy in my tent (as I am comfortably tucked away in my -40 sleeping bag).

Pictures: The Rocket Toilet.