Water Sources for Backpackers & Hikers

A question came in over the weekend about drinking water in the remote areas of the Park: I'm assuming as remote as the SCRA is, that many of the springs along the trails have clean water good enough for drinking, especially if it's taken just at the source. Is this right? What do you do when you're on the trails?

Unfortunately, water borne pathogens are prevalent in all of the water sources in the park, particularly giardia. I use a good ceramic filter along with activated carbon (I use a MSR filter and have never had any problems). Don't drink unfiltered or untreated water in the park - period, unless you want to spend a lot of time in the privy using up all of your precious paper!

Seriously, you don't want a giardia infection. Read more about the symptoms:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/giardia-infection/DS00739/DSECTION=3

Cheers,

Ron Castle