Does California Sierra Water Need to be Filtered?

I attended a Sierra Club talk, Backpacking Gone Wild, by Ken Murray, a highly experienced outdoorsman. The talk was about backpacking, with discussions of ultralight and inexpensive backpacking - they're two different things. What really caught my attention was Ken's assertation that Sierra water is safe to drink, unfiltered.

Ken quickly moved on to the next topic without addressing the drinking water issue further, but it was the prospect of drinking water straight from a Sierra stream (the same one I intend to catch fish from) that occupied my mind for the rest of the evening. Throughout my backpacking career, starting with Boy Scouting, I've always felt that the fear of contaminated mountain water was a small, but significant insult to the idea of getting away from the city and getting back to nature. Was this fear unfounded all along?

I've been taking a backpacking class offered by the Sierra Club. The instructors presented a full segment on the types of germs that infest backcountry waters and the ways to kill those germs and all the precautions to take. The students watched and listened, wide-eyed, the same way one would listen to a lecture on the danger of shark attacks before entering the ocean water. Even I was caught up in the worry. I was carefully listening for hints about what types of purification methods would be most effective.

Ken told me to read this article, which describes test results of numerous Sierra streams. Sixty-nine streams near high use areas identified by park rangers were tested. All 69 sites had a lower concentration of Giardia than San Francisco's municipal drinking water. All but two sites had lower concentrations of Giardia than Los Angeles' municipal drinking water. Hallelujah! I can drink straight from the stream!

But wait! What about Cryptosporidia and viruses? Ken Murray, Dr. Ken Murray, that is, has consulted with numerous fellow doctors, including an infectious disease specialist, with hundreds of years of combined practice. He says during those hundreds of years of practice, the only cases of Crytosporidia infection they experienced was in AIDs and other immunocompromised patients. Viruses (like Hepatitis) are an overseas concern, as even the Sierra Club backpacking class leaders will admit.

Even if you do drink Giardia infested water while backpacking, there are many reasons not to worry:

• most people who drink even highly infested water do not get infected
  
• most people who get infected do not experience any symptoms
  
• an infection confers a long-lasting immunity
  

So, where does Giardia come from? It's more likely to be contracted through fecal contamination. So wash your hands after you do number two and enjoy the water straight from the Sierra Stream.

The other interesting things I got from the talk are permethrin and $20 hiking poles. Permethrin is a highly effective bug repellent treatment for clothing. You can treat your clothes by saturating with permethrin, then drying. This confers a mosquito-killing property that remains effective for several months and many washings. Clothing that is treated with permethrin by the manufacturer is sold for a $30 markup. Permethrin sprays labeled as insect repellent are sold for $6. Permethrin sprays labeled as bug sprays are sold for $1. They are equally safe and equally effective.

Ken bought a high quality hiking pole at Walmart for $20. It was slightly heavier in weight than the fancy poles sold through REI, but much lighter on the wallet. The Walmart hiking pole is made by the Swiss Army Knife company (probably in China).

In summary, Ken presented the revelation that Sierra water is safe to drink and the reminder that you can buy many things for less money.