Uintah water

[IceRod]

I am just wondering if when you are fishing/hiking/backpacking in the Uintahs, do you carry in all of your water? Or do you drink from the creeks or only the streams.
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[icthys]

If I am only going up for the day I take the water with me. When I am staying more than one day I will take some kind of filtration system with me. Don't drink directly from the streams/rivers/lakes, you run a good chance of getting to know your bathroom really well.
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[Kayote]

I always drink from springs when I'm in the High Uintahs. Just make sure you are at the spring head. Don't ever drink from the streams and lakes unless you filter or boil the water. Good maps usually show major springs so you can plan your campsites.

Good Fishing, Kayote
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[cat_man]

Definitely do NOT drink the water anywhere in the Uintahs! When I go backpacking in the Uintahs, I always bring a microfilter and filter stream water. It's the coldest, best tasting water I've ever had in my life!!! Just make sure you learn how to use it properly and take good care of it, making sure it has a fresh filter.

Some filters are strictly microfilters. Most will filter out 99.9% of bacteria and protozoans (such as Giardia). Very few will filter viruses, but that's not usually a problem. Giardia is the biggest threat up there.

Some filters combine a filter with iodine. It's perhaps safer, will kill viruses, but it makes the water taste like sand, and I hate that. I always use just the microfilter type. There are some fairly inexpensive models available from PUR that scouts often use that work well. They do get tiring to pump sometimes though!


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[Anthonygreer]

I take a BOTA bottle with me on hikes. Its just a water bottle with a built in filter so you pull the filter out, fill it up with water, then put the filter back in and squeeze the bottle to push the unpurified water through the filter and then into your mouth. Filter costs you bout eight bucks. Check em' out, I love mine, got two of em'. Heres what they look like:

[url "http://planetoutdoors.altrec.com/shop/detail/13873/BOT"]http://planetoutdoors.altrec.com/shop/detail/13873/BOT[/url]

I don't remember where I got mine, I think recreation outlet has em'.

Anthony
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[hashbaz]

Here, here, Anthonygreer! I just wanted to second what AG had to say. Since they are cheep they can't be the best quality, but it is by FAR the most convenient system I've even heard of - fill the bottle and squeeze.

I even take it on day hikes if I know there will be a stream close by. Then I will always have nice cool water I don't even have to carry.
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[Kayote]

I disagree Cat-Man. If you drink from a spring at it's source in the Uintahs the water is safe. I have been doing this for over 20 years and have not gotten the trots yet. I know this south slope country very well and know where most of the springs are. I plan my horse packing and hunting and fishing trips around these springs. My friends and I never bring our own water and have never had a problem. I would never drink from a stream, but the springs are fine.

Good Fishing, Kayote
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[cat_man]

You're right Kayote. I did drink from one spring that came right out of a hillside on the west side of Queant Lake before. Someone had actually inserted a pipe into the hillside next to the trail (Forest Service maybe?), to make the water come out cleaner and without sediment.

You just gotta be careful. I'd still bring a filter, unless you know everywhere you will be has springs. That way even if you get lost or it takes longer to get back to camp from somewhere that's not near a spring, you can still pump water from a pond or lake or stream.
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[FrozenFish]

I've Hiked all over the Mountains around Pineveiw in my searches for antlers, and I have drinkin the water straight from many creeks. Til this day I haven't seen any side affects. So I don't think the Uintahs could be that bad.
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[MrLipripper]

I once got the "Rocky Mtn. Quickstep", aka giardia, and my MD asked me if I had been to Tooele recently. Now what the ding-dang that had to do with a bad case of the brown syrups, I'll never know! They wanted a stool sample and I said, "Stand back! I don't know where this may go!!" Anyway, taking Flagil for a few days took care of the "stool drool". All I can say is, it ain't worth it! Be sure to take your own H2O or filter what you find with whatever system works best for you. You don't know what may have died upstream but if you're not careful, you will wish you could die downstream![]
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[Hoobie]

Once me and my friend were hiking above ogden about a mile or two up the trail to mount ogden and the 95+ weather got the best of us so we drank about a cupful of stream water each then noticed it had floating particles so we stopped drinking it but we never got sick however I still think it was one of the dumber things I've done. I also read somewhere that something like 90 percent of the population is immune to giardia. Still I don't think I'll ever take that chance again unless I'm dying or something.
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[cat_man]

None of the population is "immune" to Giardia. Giardia is a protozoan, not a virus or not even a bacteria. No matter how many times you get it, you can get it again. You cannot become immune to it. Your body can fight it off, but it's a tough battle most of the time.

I lived in Nicaragua for two years, and I knew a couple of people who got Giardia from the drinking water there. Believe me that's not anything that anyone wants to get!!! Can you say 2 weeks of horrible stomach pain and liquid, sometimes bloody stool?

I also contracted amoebas twice, which is another protozoan parasite found in unclean water. I had a fever of over 103 and had nausea, vomiting, diarrea, bloody stool, and body aches for weeks. The damage is done now, I've never regained the appetite that I used to have. Used to eat more than twice what I do now, but just can't do it anymore. Used to eat lots of spicy foods, whole raw jalepenos, etc., now that would probably kill me if I did that. You can get amoebas here in the U.S. too.

It's not worth it NEVER drink from a stream. Animals walk around in the stream, pee and poop in it, die in it, etc. You never know whats going on just a little ways upstream no matter how clean it looks.

There, I'm off my soapbox now, sorry. [crazy]
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[doggonefishin]

OK, this has been an interesting thread and maybe I can add some insight. My professional expertise is in animal health but giardiasis is a condition of dogs as well and the disease in dogs is similar to human disease. First, studies have shown that most of the giardia seen in the high country can be traced back to the beaver as the point source of the protozoa. ANY water that has even a remote chance of coming in contact with beavers should be avoided. This probably includes most if not all of the free flowing creeks and lakes up there. Many springs there are OK but some seeps in close proximity to lakes are probably not. Personally, I would be very careful drinking from any springs but a spring from a familiar source or an established safe spring should be Ok. I would filter my water in unknown territory just to be safe.
Second, Giardiasis causes a range of severity in the disease it causes. Some people develop the acute onset, severe diarrhea and cramping that is well known, and very unpleasant. Some also develop a more chronic (long term) condition with it that causes low grade diarrhea and other signs. Some get no outward symptoms at all. It is probably not 90% of the population however. Most of these people, even the ones with no outward disease will shed the trophozoites in their stool. This poses some risk of perpetuating the condition so even if you are a "lucky" one, it is still not a good idea to be risky in this matter.
Third, as an aside, I get asked frequently if you can get giardia from your pets. There is some controversy on this but the answer would appear to be yes, although documented cases are suprisingly not common. Any long term diarrhea in your dog if he/she is a fishing buddy should be checked by a vet.
Lastly, giardia hits the immmunosupressed a lot harder than folks with normal immune competence, so if one is a chemotherapy patient, AIDS victim, or has had an organ transplant they should be extra careful. I imagine your doctor has already told you that though.
I hopes this helps and I agree with Cat-man that it is NEVER worth drinking from a stream.
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[IceRod]

Thanks for all of the info guys.

Hey doggonefishin, my vet told that there is now a shot for dogs to prevent giardia. He indicated that the testing results were not conclusive so he did not recommed it. Have you heard of this?
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[doggonefishin]

That is correct, there is a new vaccine for giardia. It is indeed controversial if it effective or needed, but some veterinary gastroenterology specialists are now advocating it so it may be a good idea for a very high risk dog. (Or a high risk susceptible owner, see previous post)
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[One_eyed_jack]

My vet reccomended the vaccine for my lab since she is and will be in the water every chance she can get.
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