The answer to the inevitable question: How is it done up there?

The question of human poo-lutants on the cliff is inevitable, so here is the answer. You go. Pure and simple.

If you are lucky and are on a ledge, you unclip the nylon straps holding the leg loops up in the back on your climbing harness, undo your pants adn drop them, and bend over. You can usually lean back against the rope (you are still in your harness; it gets belted up on Day One and stays there until the end) for balance, so the stance is more comfortable than the stooped position you need while camping without the ass-istance of a log or rock to prop your property on. The stance is more comfortable, you get better clearance for your pants, the ventilation (often a strong wind) is excellent, and the tourists with the telescopes in the meadow have a great view of your better profile.

You aim at a bag and try to hit it. (Points are taken off for misses; more points taken off for near misses, and you have to hand-le your own problems.) A paper bag is great for its biodegradeability, a plastic grocery bag with handles is great for those with aiming problems.

In the old days, you just tossed the bag off the cliff. (The old joke was about a tourist who, while walking along the base of the cliff, hollers out: "Marge, one of the climbers dropped their lunch. Let's see what they were going to have...") The old days have passed, and with good reason. There are large numbers of climbers now (there were 14 climbers that we could see on just The Nose the day we summitted) and the resulting density of flying bags was unacceptable, even by government standards. I do not know who invented it, but the answer is the Poop Tube: