Big strides off the trail: carrying and treating water

Note: This post contains issues about parasites and their effects on specific biological functions. Continue reading at your own risk.

I accomplished a lot this weekend. Great strides toward the big PCT extravaganza. Applied for the permit. Arranged for my ride to the border. Bought my bear canister...at a whopping 2 lbs. 9 oz., I hope that after 700 miles, I might be strong enough to carry it.

I had some concerns about how to handle carrying extra water on the trail. There are some sections that require you to lug enough water for 25 miles, and carrying it all on your back isn't always the most convenient or comfortable way to do it. Enter the concept of the front pouch--the perfect place to add an extra 2.2lbs of water while storming through the Mojave. I bought the Double Shot and tested it out around my hips, bottles and pouch in front, with my backpack on my back, strap under the Double Shot. Worked perfectly. True, I was just sauntering around the paved paths of the cemetery, but I did climb several hundred feet three or four times, and I felt good. I little sweaty on my stomach, but I will survive.

Next was the big debate on how to treat my water. Filters are heavy and they clog, but some hikers swear by them.Water tastes fresh, you can drink it right away. Cons are that it takes time to sit and pump the filter, the filters jam, and require excessive cleaning or replacement parts. Chemical treatment can take upwards of 1 hour before you can drink, and you can walk and treat, while you can't walk and pump. Chemical treatment usually makes the water taste really bad, requiring some powdery drink (Crystal Light, Iced tea, Tang, etc) to mask the iodine, betadine or chlorine taste. I met some thru-hikers last summer in Oregon using a UV treatment system, a Steripen, so I thought I would try that out. The worst thing that could happen: exposure to some water-borne pathogen that I have probably already had. Notes on Steripen to follow, but first let me digress on my first-person experience with parasites.

Giardia? sometimes called "Beaver Fever" Had it. Picked it up on the Colorado Trail/Continental Divide Trail in 2007. I have met many PCT thru-hikers who believed that they have had giardia because they threw up or got lots of diarrhea. Typically that is the result of food poisoning, or frankly, just poor hygiene. (always remember to clean your pot and eating utencils while in town) My experience with giardia was that it didn't hit me until almost two weeks after my trip. I felt tired, crampy, and had gas that smelled like sulfur. Plus your poop floats--the tell-tale sign that your body is not digesting fat. Giardia is easily cured with a prescription of Flagyl, which temporarily makes you feel worse than the giardia symptoms. It hurts, but you will finally finish the dosage and you will get better. You sometimes need to give a stool sample to get the prescription = time-consuming and costly.

Cryptosporidium? Had it. I got this lovely little bug on the Colorado Trail in 2008. This parasite does what everyone falsely claims about giardia--it incapacitates you, first with weakness, then by purging every remaining calorie from your system out of both ends. It is vicious to the point that you cannot drink water or even suck on ice cubes. It lasted on and off for three weeks for me. (I did, however, manage to bag two 13,000ft+ peaks, Mt. Flora and Mt. Eva, during this illness. Cheers for me. Owen you are a lucky man.) I had to give a stool sample (three weeks after the trip) and they gave me something to help stop the persistent stomach cramps. Within hours I felt better. I did lose about 10 pounds, though.

And finally, my favorite parasite so far in my life: Round worms. Had them in Nepal in 2005. Apparently I picked them up somewhere in Kathmandu, either in the water or in the food. Two weeks later I pulled a 12" worm from my butt. Thankfully we were within several hours walking distance from the last clinic before Everest. At about 16,000ft, I met a doctor stationed there from Colorado, who told me that there were many more inside me, and that with one $50 pill I could dislodge all of their teeth from my intestines. The next few days were sketchy and uncomfortable to say the least, but this story has made me a legend in the thru-hiker world. Go figure.

Back to the Steripen Adventurer. With two CR123 batteries, I can treat up to 60 liters of water for all these microbes and more. It weighs only 3.6oz. Sounds perfect. Hope it doesn't cause me any trouble. Just in case I will carry a small packet of Potable Aqua Tablets.

Next challenge: setting up the stove and cooking a meal. 46 days to go.