Mountain Bothies Association trustee Juls Stodel helps one hiker worried about tummy troubles with his uphill struggles in TGO’s new advice column, supported by Highlander Outdoor. Every month, one reader who writes to Juls with an Uphill Struggle will win an £100 voucher to spend with Highlander.
Dear Juls,
What do you do if you find yourself with uncontrollable bowel movements (possibly caused by an overripe packet of Fridge Raiders) when you are miles from civilisation?Number Who, October 2025
Dear Number Who,
Hiking may do wonders for your heart health, but there’s no denying that your gut can suffer. At a very basic level, one’s diet is usually confined to what is light to carry and this often manifests in dehydrated meals, plenty of carbs, an abundance of sweeties – not an awful lot of vegetables. Combine this menu with a lot of activity and things can get unpredictable. Now add in days without access to your usual hygiene rituals, a summer’s heat, or sharing packets of Haribo where multiple persons rustle through a bag for the Tangfastic cherries, and you can start to see that the situation you describe is not only likely, but staggeringly common.
Someone once told me that “no one is a real hiker until they have a sh*t story”. Gatekeeping aside, just ask whatever ragtag bunch ends up at a bothy, campsite or trail hostel and the tales will be abundant and overly detailed. Not only of the explosively miserable variety, but also from those who tried to avoid the challenges altogether and cracked out the Imodium – a decent idea for one or two nights but if you think it will get you through the entire Pennine Way without consequences, then you’ve got another thing coming.
Prevention is always better than remedy, so let’s start there. I was personally struck down while carrying perishable food. Having become accustomed to stretching the shelf life in cooler months, a sudden two-week heatwave unsurprisingly perished my snacks and I spent three days in weak, squirty, turmoil in the baking heat of a remote glen. Maybe don’t carry the Fridge Raiders if the sun is due to blare?
If sharing any snacks, tipping into hands rather than encouraging the grubby masses to rummage through can prevent a whole lot of contamination. Treat your water. If you wash nothing else, wash your hands regularly – with soap. Hand sanitiser is marvellous at many things, but beating norovirus is not in the skillset.
Once you’ve gained your tummy trouble tale of woe (or if you’re wise, before) you’ll realise adding a couple packets of Dioralyte to your first aid kit is wise. But sometimes, rehydration sachets just don’t cut it, and you can’t keep anything down or in. Usually, symptoms abate after a day or two of a tent-bound trial but severe and ongoing suffering in the middle of nowhere is definitely within Mountain Rescue’s remit to address. Would this be embarrassing? Yes. Would possibly dying of diarrhoea in a heatwave be more so? Yes. It’s not the legacy you want.
As I write this, a JoGLEr who was meant to meet me at Tan Hill has texted complaining of digestive issues. He is confined to his tent somewhere out on Cotherstone Moor feeling very sorry for himself. Prior to his journey, he hadn’t wild camped or done any trails – I hope it makes him happy to hear he is a real hiker now.
Every month, one reader who writes to Juls with an Uphill Struggle will win an £100 voucher to spend with Highlander Outdoor.
