Originally Posted by
Mr. Beanz
I did skip on the Camelback trusting Hillbasher's judgement of the spring water. I was worried but WOW that water is CLEAR! I drank it no problem. Matter of fact, it looked much better than the junk I drink at at home, at restaurants and on the trail. Not bad at all![/IMG]
WARNING GETTING ON SOAP BOX: Please don't take this the wrong way, but drinking untreated water is a really bad idea. It doesn't matter how clear it is, organisms such as Giardia, E. coli and Cryptosporidium cannot be seen with the naked eye. If you thing about the acres of watershed the water traveled before reaching the stream you will quickly realize the probablity of it being contaminated. That said, people will often say, "Hey, I drank it hundreds of time without a problem." This may be true, but when the probablities catch up with you, it won't matter how many times you didn't get sick.
So, if you want to take the risk, by all means do it. But when you're having explosive diarrhea, pooping blood, double over in pain and thinking your going to die, please don't say you weren't warned.
GETTING OF SOAP BOX
Happy and HEALTHY cycling.