[pct-l] aqua mira.

[david_tibor at yahoo.com (David Tibor)]

Hi all,

I saw a couple posts about Aqua Mira. I used it the
entire way along the trail. I bought a few sets from
Campmor before I left, and had them in my bounce box.
Pull the mixing cap off one of the sets and put it on
the other bottle that you carry (i.e. carry two of the
mixing caps). I kept mine in a little ziplock bag that
was easily accessible.

There was a couple of places along the trail that I
wasn't excited about the water (Lost Valley Spring,
tiny creek under Spanish Needle, etc.) but I never
missed the bulk and hassle of a filter. If the water's
marginal, pour it through a bandana, use 2x the dose
of Aqua Mira, and don't worry about it. The only time
I really was happy I was hiking with someone with a
filter was at Cache 22 towards the end of the Hat
Creek Rim, where the only water was leftover gunk from
a year ago apparently, complete with floating blobs of
bacteria or algae or something. We had to drink it, so
we strained in through a bandana, filtered it, and hit
it with Aquamira. Tasted lousy but we survived.

And remember that Crystal Light, especially Peach Tea
flavor, is wonderful. Tastes great when it's hot out,
and when it was really cold and raining here and there
in Oregon and Washington in 2004, drinking cold water
didn't sound fun - but a little peach tea mix and all
of a sudden, it was yummy.

And don't rely on the caches! It's easy enough to
carry the water you need to skip them, or at least to
only need to take a liter from them. A few of the
"critical" ones that some folks relied on last year
were bone dry when I went by them. If everyone carries
most of what they need, the caches might actually have
water in them for the people who get into problems and
actually need the water.

Peace out.

Dave T. (2004)



		
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