Wolfhunt!

I am going on a Archery Elk Hunt in southern Colorado. I was warned to not drink the water from the creeks there. Why is this? Where I am from we never purify water unless it is stagnent water or a beaver pond.

TomFromTheShade

You can go to the camping section at WalMart and get some water purifying tablets. They have a two pack, one that purifies, and then another that makes the purfied water taste better. There are a lot of reasons not to drink dirty water. I don't know if I'm spelling these right, but how about dysentary, cholera, bacterialinfections, parasites? I don't want any of that!

Wolfhunt!

Thanks for the reply. I realize that drinking dirty water can make you sick, but I am stumped as to why the water at 10000 ft in the rocky mountains would be dirty. Is the creeks there not made from melting snow? I guess I am just spoiled by being able to drink from our lakes, rivers and streams around here!

PaRu

Probally won't spell it right either but they have geardia here in the water and some signs of e-coli so i think i would prefer to filter water than sit on the pot all hunting season , it never hurts.

redhead522

The water may look pure and majestic from the Rockies, but TomFromTheShade is right on the dot withthis one. I remember the parasites sectionof myBiology class in high school, it was enough to make you never want to go outside again. Injest a tapeworm, and you'll wish you never went on the hunting trip. There's been records of them growing up to 20 feet+ inside people's intestines. Then there's Trichinella, which you can get from eating undercooked pig and venison. The parasites move through your digestive system, into the blood system, and cyst in your muscles.They are treatable, but in rare cases, the infestation spreads throughout the body and becomes lethal. My teacher told us of a case where a guy died when the infection spread into his brain! Not a pretty picture.

Blue Moose CO

There is a lot of cattle grazing in the mountains. Even at 10000 ft. Probably the higher you go up the safer the water, but where I hunt, the cattle graze up to the peaks of the mountains at 12,000 ft. Its better to be safe than sorry. A bad case of the sh----ts will change your mind about not purifing creek water in a hurry. Not to mention the stomach cramps that double you over for24 hours straight. Its not a hunting story you would ever want to tell again.

txhunter58

Many people do as you do and never have a problem. However, Giardia and other things are always possible, even in the high country. Just rember, unless you get your drinking water directy from a spring, there are going to be other thing in it, like a deer/elk that pooped up stream from you. How about elk/deer,marmot, miceurine?

A water filter is pretty cheap insurance. I bought a MSR miniworks and sleep better at night.

Colorado Bob

They have it covered. I filter my water on backpack trips. Those iodine tablets tear me up.

bilbow

One of the guys I hunt with got thirsty one day and wasn't carrying water. He laid down and drank some of that pure mountain creek water from the stream. Then we walked upstream a ways and came across a dead elk laying in the water. I won't say what happened next, but suffice to say he learned his lesson.[:'(]

ssmith_1187

Another alternative is to use Katadyn's Micropur.

Purifying water couldn't be easier, simply drop a Micropur tablet into a quart of water; drink with confidence and no chemical aftertaste.
[ul][*]Features the same proven technology used in municipal water supplies; effective against viruses, bacteria, Giardia and Cryptosporidium[*]Destroys viruses and bacteria in 15 minutes, Giardia in 30-minutes and Cryptosporidia in 4-hours[*]Meets the US EPA purification guidelines; active ingredient is chlorine dioxide[*]Each tablet is individually wrapped and sealed[*]While a 4-hour wait time may be inconvenient, alternative disinfectants do not claim to destroy Cryptosporidium [/ul]
To protect consumers who may not be able to determine if the water is cold and turbid (dirty), the EPA requires product instructions to have a 4 hour wait time.

While a mountain stream is cold...it probably isn't dirty. Katadyn says a 30 minute wait is all that is required even for Crypto.

Bilbow hit it right on the head...Bucky the Beaver might be legs up not 50 yards upstream from you.

You can pick up a 30-pack at REI for around $15.

Regards,
Steve