Backcountry College - Water

[Clay Hayes]

Here's the latest episode of Backcountry College from Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.  

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nqlaJljy9Q&feature=player_detailpage

[Butchie]

Enjoy as always...good stuff!  Thanks!

[el chupa nibre]

Big fan of the channel! Articulate presentation and great info! What's not to like?

[RedShaft]

Yeah. Same here. I really enjoy your videos man!

[bicster]

Great stuff! I am a fan of your videos too.

[Kevin Dill]

Really nice video and good information. There is no substitute for knowing where the water (you may be drinking) comes from and what is happening upstream from your position.

Where we moose hunt in Alaska there is a beautiful and fast river running past our camp. Closer to our camp is a tributary stream which runs directly down from higher hills behind camp. We get our water from the tributary, but always filter or boil it. I'm sure we could drink the trib water safely, but...

I was moving along a bluff above the water one afternoon and watching a band of caribou. Being water-lovers, caribou will often simply stand in a river or stream, sometimes walking right up the center. These animals did exactly that, and I think a half-dozen of them dumped a load of caribou poop directly into the water as I glassed. Great reminder about how beautiful water can hide ugly organisms. Remarkably enough, there is also a large colony of beavers about 5 miles upstream where other tributaries are small and slow enough to dam. If I don't KNOW...I filter.

[awbowman]

Too easy to treat and be safe guys.  TREAT YOUR WATER!!!

[far rider]

These are the the BEST! Thanks for posting them up Clay.

Tim

[centaur]

I love finding springs in the backcountry where moo cows aren't around; the best water there is is from a spring coming right out of the ground. That is traditional!
Good video and good info.

[Steve O]

My wife freaks out when we stop on our favorite river while canoeing for the kids and I to get a drink from a couple of the springs bubbling out to feed the main stream. They love it!

I got Giaridia once in the Yukon. From what I remember it took about a week to manifest itself and then it hit with a vengeance!  I do NOT want to go thru that again.

[mgf]

Don't run into many spring around here so I usually boil.

I used to do a lot of cave diving in Florida and Missouri and I've seen plenty of well heads poking down out of the ceiling of the cave.

Still I've found dead critters in the care that swam upstream of the spring or fell into a sink. And then there are divers like me using the "pee valves" on our dry suits. LOL

I've drank all sorts of water (some by accident) and never got sick but treating it seems like the safe way to go. If it's a matter of survival, dehydration will probably kill you a lot quicker than giardia. You'll probably be out and safe long before the giardia even hits you.

[Bivyhunter]

I'm with Steve-O, giardia is pretty low on the fun meter! The cure is even less fun.

[Kevin Dill]

I think I once heard a guy say he was leaving the water filter behind so he could 'go faster'. I thought that might prove to be an agonizingly accurate prediction.

[Kevin Hansen]

Good video, Clay! Thanks for sharing.
Here's a water question for those of you in the know: I was told by an outfitter this summer that giardia sinks and if a person gets their water in a lake and well away from shore (where wave action can't stir the giardia up)there is no need to filter water. He also said a person should stay away from shallow fast moving streams because giardia doesn't have a chance to settle to the bottom in this type of water and remains constantly riled up. His credentials to back up what he was saying are 30 years of guiding, outfitting, and traveling in the northwoods canoe country of the BWCAW and never once contracting giardia.
Has anyone else heard this? Not trying to start an argument, but would really like to hear some factual data on this. Also, I realize conditions in canoe country differ from high mountain country.
Thanks.

[Clay Hayes]

Originally posted by Kevin Hansen:
Good video, Clay! Thanks for sharing.
Here's a water question for those of you in the know: I was told by an outfitter this summer that giardia sinks and if a person gets their water in a lake and well away from shore (where wave action can't stir the giardia up)there is no need to filter water. He also said a person should stay away from shallow fast moving streams because giardia doesn't have a chance to settle to the bottom in this type of water and remains constantly riled up. His credentials to back up what he was saying are 30 years of guiding, outfitting, and traveling in the northwoods canoe country of the BWCAW and never once contracting giardia.
Has anyone else heard this? Not trying to start an argument, but would really like to hear some factual data on this. Also, I realize conditions in canoe country differ from high mountain country.
Thanks.

I've heard the same about the giardia sinking.  Alpine lakes are another good source of water, but I wouldn't drink from them with cows around.  Infected cattle spew out thousands of cysts a day and many of them find their way into the water.  Most alpine water is eutrophic meaning that it's very low nutrient content, thereby supporting little in the way of microorganisms.  We often change that with the introduction of soaps and food waste around campsites. Not to mention the jackass that takes a dump on the edge of the stream.

High mountain water that meets the requirements I talked about in the video is just as safe, or safer, than what comes out or your tap.  If you live in a city, think of what that water went through before recycling to that tap. For some reason there is a false trust that if it comes our of a pipe it's safe and everything else is not.  

Treating is easy, but if you're treating spring water, you might also take comfort in boiling the water from your kitchen sink... Just sayin'

[Kevin Hansen]

Good points, Clay.
Thanks for the response.