Re: [at-l] Giardia's dirty little secret.

["Alice Kauzlarich" <kauzlar@madison.main.nc.us>]

Glad to see you back me up on the cow theory. Since living in NC I have
seen too much! Ha! I have become more aware of how close those cows are to
the trail, and cows  seem to LOVE to stand in water and do their thing.

 The Highlander

                          

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> From: Owen <jrowen@ibm.net>
> To: Thomas McGinnis <tmcginnis@ucclan.state.in.us>
> Cc: at-l@backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [at-l] Giardia's dirty little secret.
> Date: Friday, October 23, 1998 9:20 PM
> 
> Gee guys - the arguments are deteriorating rapidly here.  And you
> haven't even got to the good stuff yet ---- :-)) 
> 
> OK -- I carry a filter.  Not just for Giardia or Crypto. Someone (I
> don't remember who) made a remark about there not being many cows on the
> AT --- I don't think so.  The Eternal Cow War started in southern
> Virginia in 1992 when a cow refused to let us get by on a bog bridge and
> I told him that I'd win cause I'd be eating one of his cousins that
> night.  The cows spent the next 3 months ambushing me in every state
> along the way.  And I spent the next three months telling them that they
> were ugly and their mother dressed them funny (among other things).  And
> the war still goes on.  The bottom line being that there are a LOT of
> cows on, around and near the AT --- to say nothing of IN a lot of the
> springs.  And next year we'll be in COW COUNTRY - on the CDT (Cow Dung
> Trail).  Yeah - I carry a filter.  
> 
> Through NC, VA, MD, PA, NJ, NY, CT, MA and VT -- there are farms.  And
> farms use fertilizer - and pesticides - and a LOT of other chemicals. 
> Now ---- you KNOW where those chemicals end up - don't you?  In the
> water, of course.  Let's see now --- does fertilizer make you grow?  Or
> does it kill you?  I don't know - but I'm not really dead set on finding
> out either.  That's why I like to carry a filter that has a carbon
> element.  
> 
> We got another lesson one night in PA - although it wasn't on the AT. 
> We set up camp and went to pump our water - then we went for a walk
> upstream.  And found the dead deer that was rotting - in the stream - in
> our water supply.  Might not have been Giardia, but it was NASTY. And
> I'll bet there were more than a few beasties that would have been only
> too happy to make us very sick.  Yeah -- I'll keep on carrying the
> filter.  You can never tell what might decide to die in your water
> supply.  
> 
> And then there's just the "clog" factor.  We took a Pur Hiker to
> Colorado last year.  Guaranteed not to clog for a year.  But we clogged
> it solid in 10 days in the highcountry.  Snow melt will do that.  Lots
> of silt - and it ALL came from RED snow.  Don't eat RED snow, guys.  The
> RED part is due to bacterial growth - it might not kill you, but it can
> make you wish it had.  
> 
> And I haven't even mentioned the Moose piss.  
> 
> I'm not telling anyone to carry one and, in fact, I don't like the
> weight --- but I'll carry the filter cause where I go there's more than
> just Giardia and Crypto to deal with.  
> 
> Walk softly, 
> Jim
> 
> 
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