A Canmore Man Made A Book Of The Best Places To 'Poo With A View' In The Rockies
If you’ve ever ventured into the backcountry, you know that all poo-related privacy goes out the window the second you get on the trail. Treading into the woods with your toilet paper in hand or rejoicing at the sight of an outhouse is just something you get used to. After years of backcountry bathroom breaks, a local Canmore man decided to pay tribute to some of the most stunning "shitters" he's come across in the Rockies. From this, his book Poo With A View was born.
In an interview with Narcity, Gavin Tobias Boutet, 42, told us why he decided to document the stunning "high alpine shitters of the Canadian Rockies," as he puts it.
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Like most people who moved to the Rockies from out East, Boutet headed west from Collingwood, Ontario for the skiing. It was a "job with the Alpine Club of Canada as a hut services worker gave me the idea for this book," he told us.
His job was to "ensure the hut(s) and facilities were stocked and in good repair, and that meant also dealing with the outhouses and poo barrels. (Affectionally know as “honey buckets” for the sweet smell they’d produce)." And you thought you had a crappy job.
He told us that the idea came to him pretty quickly and then an "inner belief that this photography project was worthy of more than just a few copies for myself and the family," is what pushed him to bring it to life.
"I decided it was time to finish it and bring it to a larger audience, certainly before someone else beat me to it!"
Naturally, we were dying to know what the most beautiful outhouse in the Canadian Rockies is. Tragically, he selected one that's no longer around.
"Each shitter in the book is unique, but I am partial to the old Neil Colgan outhouse featured on the cover." He helped to rebuild the deck and outhouse back in 2013, so naturally, he has an emotional attachment to that specific potty.
As for which poo view he's still got on a list, he told us that he hasn't yet "been to Sapphire Col in the Rogers Pass area of the Selkirk Mountains." Not to worry, though, he's "fortunate to have pooped in the highest and second-highest permanent outhouses in Canada!" Honestly, jealous.
Boutet is stoked to have pushed this book out and will be focusing on it for a while because it's "still hot and steamy off the press!"
If you want to find out where to get yourself a copy, he'll be keeping everyone updated .