The Need for a Shitter

In the pocket of my windbreaker is a doggie bag for collecting poop. I am cycling the John Bartram section of the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) in Hamburg but I am not with a dog, I am with my disabled husband.  My husband, Todd Gladfelter, and I cycle this section of the trail a few times a week when the season is right. I ride my mountain bike, Todd an e-assist, adaptive recumbent trike. Todd fell off the roof two years ago on Black Friday, breaking his neck, resulting in a spinal cord injury and is now an incomplete quadriplegic. It can happen in a blink of an eye, to absolutely anyone. The surgeon said he would never walk again, but Todd is not only walking over a mile a day but can also cycle 30 miles in a day. This is due in large part to the fact that for two years we have done nothing but rehab- intense physical therapy to regain mobility. Riding his trike has been key and cycling this section of the SRT has built up tremendous leg strength. It is our go-to place but there is not an accessible porta-john, hence the doggie bag.

If my husband would need to have a bowel movement, while he is cycling, I have to somehow shift him in his seat, open his snap pants, get my hand under his butt, get him to crap in a bag- fuck modesty or feeling humiliated if someone should come by. He is a good bit paralyzed so there’s no wandering off into the forest to dig a cat hole.

I asked the good folks who manage the trailhead etc., the Blue Mountain Wildlife, if there was some way we could switch out an accessible porta-john at the trailhead so the disabled as well as the able-bodied folks could use it but I’ve hit nothing but dead ends.   

I’ve made a few phone calls and I was told that this issue is the responsibility of this 70-year old couple who pretty much run the Blue Mountain Heritage non-profit, a grassroots group who clips trail etc. I don’t think so. I decided to go to the Schuylkill Rivers Greenway- a National and State Heritage Area and find out more. The biggest problem- “it costs considerably more to rent an accessible porta-john as opposed to a regular one for the able bodied.”

Too expensive? That new bridge across the Schuylkill River in Auburn was crazy expensive. There were changes and upgrades at the parking lot at Hamburg and Auburn. A garden was put in and a picnic pavilion but with these grants, no one considered adding an accessible porta-john? There are many disabled folks who use the John Bartram section and we heard it is the busiest parking lot on the SRT but too bad for the disabled. Some of these features were made possible with grants from Cabela’s. Why wasn’t an accessible porta-john included? Since it was an oversight, why not apply for one for the funds to rent a crapper now? Actually, a permanent bathroom facility would make more sense as the trail is used in all the seasons.

One in four Americans live with a disability (61 million) which keeps them at home (1 million require a wheelchair) where they are more comfortable and their lives are safe and have a degree of accessibility. But a life indoors, surrounded by screens and technology, robs you of the beauty and the wonder of the natural world. Studies in recent years have found that ecotherapy, simply spending time in nature, actually helps and heals you. The SRT has been a lifesaver for many disabled folks but really, they need to have a bowel movement just like everyone else.

Todd and I are members of the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club (BMECC) in Reading, which is responsible for maintaining 63 miles of the Appalachian Trail, which is overseen by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the National Park System. Todd was shelter chairman of five hiker shelters which included the privies. The National Park Service, made Todd design, build and install a composting moldering privy at the Eagle’s Nest Shelter- an accessible for all law- even though the shelter is miles from Route 183.  It had to accommodate folks in wheelchairs, even though wheelchairs cannot possibly access the trail to get to it. The local hiking club, (like the Blue Mountain Heritage Assoc.), applied for a grant from L.L.Bean to pay for the $1500 supplies to make the privy and the trail club members, spear-headed by my husband Todd, built it. A lot more disabled people would use the porta-john at the Bartram trailhead than at Eagles’ Nest Shelter on the AT.

Who is supposed to look into getting a grant for an accessible porta- john? I would like to orchestrate securing a grant but as the caregiver of a spinal cord injured person, my plate is incredibly full. The senior folks who are in charge of the Blue Mountain Wildlife non-profit? A lot to ask of such a small group. How about the Schuylkill River Greenway Assoc. who is under the umbrella federal organization, the Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources? Somebody do your job and get an accessible porta-john at the trailhead. It shouldn’t be this hard. The life of a disabled person is so challenging and difficult. Needing to have a bowel-movement when they’re at the bike trail shouldn’t be something they need to worry about.