Joshua Tree (CA) campgrounds will close as toilets near capacity, amid government shutdown

[left-of-center2012]

The fun is over at Joshua Tree National Park. Blame feces. Campgrounds at the park will close at noon Wednesday, park officials said, citing health and safety concerns over the park’s vault toilets, which are near capacity.

Park visitor centers, flush toilets, water-filling stations and dump stations are all closed because of the federal government’s partial shutdown. Vault toilets — the waterless bathrooms in which visitors can relieve themselves into a sealed container that is buried underground — had remained open. But with no workers to pump out the waste, those are being closed now as well.

The lack of restrooms has been an issue at other national parks as well. Yosemite National Park visitors using the side of the road as a toilet have prompted the park to close two campgrounds and a popular redwood grove for public safety reasons.

“With restrooms closed, some visitors are opting to deposit their waste in natural areas adjacent to high-traffic areas, which creates a health hazard for other visitors,” National Parks Service spokesman Andrew Munoz said in an email Saturday.

Park officials are urging visitors to use restrooms in nearby communities before they enter the park and to pack out their trash. Death Valley, whose most popular landmarks have been crowded during the winter holidays, said outhouses are open but aren’t being cleaned or stocked with toilet paper during the closure.

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-joshua-tree-park-toilets-20181231-story.html

[Delarage]

1. Gross memory from Joshua Tree

I went there like 25 years ago (I'm a big U2 fan ) and used one of the foulest porta-potties that I have ever experienced....even fouler than when I got splashed by blue "water" at one in a State Park in Delaware). It was hot as hell and smelled like the boiling cauldron of festering filth and horror that it was....but I *really* had to go. I remember the smell permeating my being for several days



So just one more reason to hate Individual 1

[bluedigger]

2. Arches NP now closed due to inability to plow entrance road.