The Long Trail : Day 10 : Part 2 (The Poop Story) : 9/30/20 . I ripped the band aid and took off in the rain. I was in a hurry for more than one reason and I remembered reading something about “left to find the privy”. Naturally, I went left of the shelter to battle a raging and overflowing creek. It wasn’t dangerous but it was surprising as it had been a dry rock bed the evening before. Without trekking poles I tried to make my way across, balancing on rocks and logs. I made it with only one precarious moment and hiked on. . After a little farther than seemed necessary, I had a strong suspicion I was not on the path to the privy. I’m literally about to poop my pants at this point. I raced back over the unnecessary creek crossing to the shelter to reset my bearings. “North on the LT then to the left”, apparently I left out the first part. I tried again and almost turned around a second time when finally I saw a sign that read “toilet” with an arrow pointing left. . Relief flooded over me because, remember, things were getting dire. Also, don’t forget to picture that everything is wet, water is overflowing and yes, it’s still raining. Back to the “toilet”. Now, toilet is a loose term here. Most privies are some semblance of a shack with a toilet seat over a dug out hole in the ground. Some are better than others. This particular “toilet” was 1 star at best and that 1 star was incredibly generous. . Picture a wooden box with a toilet seat on top. The toilet lid is up and the hole in the ground is almost filled to the top with water and other things you wouldn’t discuss over dinner. Now, where the three walls, door and roof would be, just do away with those. But instead of throwing all the walls out, keep the door, set it horizontally on the ground on the side of the “toilet” facing the path. This way if someone walks up you can give them a friendly wave as you do your business and maybe spare them your naked behind. Regardless of how derelict the “toilet” was I was grateful to have this moment in the rain. With my business tended to, I made my way back through the trail turned river to find our tent and a still sleeping Dave.