Do I need a filter?

imported
#1

Do I need a filter for a thru-hike? I’d prefer to use Aqua Mira, but thought it might me tough to get at the water in the southern stretches without a filter…thanks.

Brian

#2

in GA the water is fine…lotsa streams as well as springs. The springs have water, but you may have to use a dip cup without a filter. You also may want to carry more water thru sections of GA if you don’t filter, since some springs are so shallow.I would think they were rain related. This could be heavier than a filter or time factored to let the sediment settle. No one i saw going southbound this fall was filtering. Some drank directly from the source, which would have been odd to me, seeing salamanders in the water I was filtering.

On a hot weather trip, you will want more water, so unless you mind, I filtered out water from areas that I would normally pass by, but I was so thirsty, yeh that mud puddle was dry when i left it.

The truth is, people use chems alot. You would do fine with it. I don’t mind the minute to pump and have immediate opportunity to quinch my thirst. The other thing is that the idea of big G and one bad Crypto night may be over rated, that is until you get it. So whichever you do, filter, chemically treat, or just lap it up like a cave man, you will not be short of drinkable water.

Burn

#3

hahaha, after i posted, i saw i was in PCT…i am such a wienie. For folks who do not know, the PCT does not go thru GA. hehehe

burn

#4

I saw a lot of people who didn’t filter at all. Read Ray Jardine’s take on h20 in “Beyond Backpacking”. Knowing what sources are drinkable is a skill. For example, the salamanders would be a GOOD sign for good water, as they are very sensitive to pollution. So is healthy-looking green algae.
The southern PCT is a little risky w/out a filter, because you might have to drink whatever you can find. Their are caches left by trail angles, but it is wise not to depend on them, because they are sometimes empty.
The Sierras made me want to chuck my filter. Filtering it would be an insult to purity. Only in Death Canyon did I hear of someone getting sick for 24 hrs. Go figure.
May your cup be full and tasty.

Tha Wookie

#5

I see a reliable animal planet special on the toilet habits of salamanders,…I’ll filter Oo

Onlyone

#6

After the Sierras, most PCT hikers don’t filter, whether they are carrying a filter or not. A lot of the 2000 hikers got sick in Oregon, but that may have been related to the AYCE restaurant at Crater Lake. You will get water at a lot of lakes up north, so bring some form of water treatment - whether filter or iodine is up to you. Can you afford to take time off to be sick? If not - treat the water.

Ginny

#7

Everyone has an opinion on this. Nobody agrees. All I ask is this: If you choose to not treat your water or not filter, and then you end up at a really gross water source—and there are PLENTY of these on the PCT—and your next water source is 10 miles away, and you’re out of water, DO NOT ask to borrow a filter from another hiker. Or their Aqua Mira. Or their Polar Pure. If you make the choice to NOT carry the weight of a filter or other treatment method, then you are also making the choice to end up in a sad situation at a gross water source.

I’ll share anything with any hiker who needs it. I’ve even shared my sleeping bag before with someone I just met. But hikers who carry inadequate or no water treatment have made a conscious choice to not have that gear with them. They didn’t want to carry the weight. I’m not willing to carry that weight for them.

yogi

#8

Mine doesn’t weigh that much so I don’t care. The only thing you can’t borrow are the fleece socks Island Mama made for me. I’ve had to borrow (on AT) when my filter clogged beyond repair, but that is different than what Yogi is saying- at least I tried. She has a great point in that you should not ever put yourself in a position when your health depends on someone else’s gear. That may be true even for your partner’s gear.

Tha Wookie

#9

As you can see, I’m passionate about this topic. I should have added that my point of view came from thousands of miles of the “lightweight” hikers ALWAYS asking to borrow my filter. And I used to always let them use it.

There was one hiker in particular who I walked many hundreds of miles with. He always used my filter. Like for 700 miles. Then I was at the PO when he picked up his bounce box. He had a filter in it. I asked if he was going to keep the filter with him. He told me he didn’t want to carry the weight, and besides I was always with him, so he’d use mine.

It’s a choice. You choose to carry the weight or to not carry the weight.

Finally, I DO share my filter with hikers who have a clogged filter, or whose Aqua Mira bottle A leaked (what’s with bottle A, anyway?), or anyone who is carrying a water treatment method which failed. I’ll share with them. But not with the people who made THE CHOICE.

I even carry Aqua Mira as a backup. Because sometimes my filter clogs, too.

yogi

#10

You’re crackin’ me up, Yogi. i just remembered that I didn’t even carry one. Island Mama carried it. Did you ever tell that guy to get a filter?

Tha Wookie

#11

Gottago keeps reminding me that I shouldn’t voice such strong opinions. Good thing she’s on vacation right now and is not reading this, or I’d be in trouble! (on a side note, gottago won’t even let me voice my opinions about bikes on the trail IN MY OWN BOOK!!! because she says I’m too hard.)

Yes, he did get his own filter, and he even sent me $30 in Skykomish to pay for the replacement cartridge I had to buy in Ashland.

Way to go Island Mama!! (we all know that girls are stronger than boys)----oops! there I go again!

I better go to bed before I start something I can’t finish!

yogi

#12

Since gottago is on vacation, yogi, why don’t you write your opinion about bikes on trails here? Should heat things up for the new year.

Jim Keener

#13

That’s right. that’s why they should carry the heavy stuff. Don’t be easy on anybody, Yogi. Be not afraid. I’ll tell you right now that the bike impact on the CT in parts makes walking unbearable because of all the dust it grinds. I have a bike friend who is fighting for bike us in designated wilderness trails. sheesh. Hikers are too apathetic in defending their experience. Summer is the time to take a walk. Now is the time to take a stand.:wink:

Tha Wookie

#14

Real cute Jim. Way to go on getting Yogi going! (she says sarcastically)

And Yogi…yes, you have been a bad girl. Giggle!

Gottago

#15

I am exactly as ashamed as I should be.

Jim Keener