Mt Whitney Zone
Posted By: kmcboogie Tincture of Iodine - 05/29/16 07:06 PM
Is that good enough for water purification on Whitney?

When needed that's what I like to use, cheap, lightweight, easy, and vit. C can be used to get rid of the iodine taste (after 20-30 minutes of course).

Thanks,

K
Posted By: saltydog Re: Tincture of Iodine - 05/29/16 09:51 PM
Teeth are good enough for water purification on Whitney.
Posted By: Steve C Re: Tincture of Iodine - 05/29/16 10:34 PM
I've not read of anyone using it for water purification. Since it is dissolved iodine in water, adding it to water dilutes it really a lot. So I am wondering just how much it would take to really kill any harmful bacteria and cysts.

But regardless, I'll tell you what I do: Dip and drink -- from every place except the Trail Camp pond. Even there, I use the inlet stream.

Two weeks ago:
Posted By: kmcboogie Re: Tincture of Iodine - 05/30/16 01:13 AM
Seriously, no need to treat? Aren't there any critters living and shitting around the trail? K
Posted By: ScottL Re: Tincture of Iodine - 05/30/16 03:15 AM
I've never treated once on Whitney or anywhere in the Sierra in over 15 years and never had one issue.
Posted By: Steve C Re: Tincture of Iodine - 05/30/16 05:56 AM
kmc, the water purity issue has sometimes brought about huge and passionate discussions. Many people still treat or filter their water, and the Forest Service advises people to do that, but there are only a few places in the Sierra that scientists have actually found enough contamination to be harmful. They are in drainage from cattle grazing areas, and areas below livestock holding sites (pack stations, etc.)

You can choose what to do yourself; the choice is yours.

Here are links to some discussions and studies in the past:
Water discussions (Drink untreated, or filter/treat/boil/etc.)
  Water and Giardia around Mt. Whitney
  60,000 Liters of Water Consumed -- Untreated
  Filter question (links to studies, etc.)
Posted By: bobpickering Re: Tincture of Iodine - 05/30/16 03:56 PM
Picking a nit here, filters purify the water by removing whatever may be in it. Chemicals, boiling, and UV light kill pathogens that may be living in the water, buy they do not purify it. The silt, pollen, insect parts, bits of shit, etc. are still there.

I sometimes filter, but I usually drink right out of the stream. I never use chemicals.
Posted By: + @ti2d Re: Tincture of Iodine - 05/31/16 06:58 PM
Originally Posted By: bobpickering
...silt, pollen, insect parts, bits of shit, etc. are still there.


Definitely some organic material here...add some Tang or Gatorade and you got yourself a S-M-O-O-T-H-E-E!

Seriously, no need for filter or chemical. In June 2012, I asked Bob R (the duty expert referred to) how he filters his water and he replied, "Through my teeth." Saltydog also mentioned this earlier.

Don't drink from Trail Camp pond. Like Steve C mentioned, obtain water from the source filling the pond. Also, SB 23 has the last source of water on the trail.
Posted By: mmauer Re: Tincture of Iodine - 05/31/16 07:12 PM
The water at switchback 23 is the purest in the world.

Caution, however: depending on time of day and time of year, the water may not be flowing. (Too early in the morning, may not be enough melt yet for it to be flowing.) I speak from experience...
Posted By: kmcboogie Re: Tincture of Iodine - 06/01/16 12:43 AM
Thanks for all the replies.

We'll be going up MR and down JMT, in the second week of September. Is there anywhere along the MR that would be dodgy? For instance people camp at Iceberg Lake and Lower Boyscout Lake. We have 2 liter Camelbaks and I don't want to take more water than that.

Is there any obvious way to recognize the spring at the 23rd switchback on the descent?

K
Posted By: Harvey Lankford Re: Tincture of Iodine - 06/01/16 01:45 AM
Originally Posted By: kmcboogie

We have 2 liter Camelbaks and I don't want to take more water than that.

Is there any obvious way to recognize the spring at the 23rd switchback on the descent?K

I have done multiple traverses from one side or route to the other and never carried any more on the summit push than 2 liters, refilling once when back down to 12,000 ft or so.

When flowing strong, the spring empties right across the trail for about 5 switchbacks. From #23 or so and down, it is not much further to other water sources so it is not a big deal.
Posted By: RichardK Re: Tincture of Iodine - 06/01/16 02:30 AM
If you want to use iodine, don't bother with the tincture. Buy the Potable Water iodine tablets from REI, Campmor, etc. The correct dose is pre-measured - no guessing. They also sell the vitamin C tabs to clarify the solution after it has killed everything (about half an hour). People tell me lemon juice works too.
Posted By: Steve C Re: Tincture of Iodine - 06/01/16 04:17 AM
The water at switchback 23 may be dried up by mid-September. It is actually the runoff from a snow field farther up the slope, so when the snow is all gone, no more water.

But the inlet to the Trail Camp pond always flows, so you can count on that.

RichardK's suggestion to buy iodine tablets specifically for water purification sounds better than the tincture process.
Posted By: Encinitas_Guy Re: Tincture of Iodine - 06/06/16 04:56 PM
Last weekend I drank over 10 liters of unfiltered and untreated water from a variety of locations on the Shepherd Pass Trail (the Pothole, the creek crossing at Anvil Camp, etc.) en route to Mt. Williamson. My hiking partners all spent hours filtering water and telling me to enjoy my giardia, except it has now been a week since my last sip and I have had exactly zero issues. From here on out I am going to be leaving the pump at home and carrying tablets as a last resort (Cut that weight!) As Ed Abbey once said, "In any case, when a man must be afraid to drink freely from his own country's rivers and streams that country is no longer fit to live in."
Posted By: + @ti2d Re: Tincture of Iodine - 06/06/16 04:58 PM
Nothing like Sierra Nevada "organic" water...
Posted By: Steve C Re: Tincture of Iodine - 06/06/16 05:36 PM
Originally Posted By: Encinitas_Guy
Last weekend I drank over 10 liters of unfiltered and untreated water from a variety of locations on the Shepherd Pass Trail (the Pothole, the creek crossing at Anvil Camp, etc.) en route to Mt. Williamson. My hiking partners all spent hours filtering water and telling me to enjoy my giardia, except it has now been a week since my last sip and I have had exactly zero issues. From here on out I am going to be leaving the pump at home and carrying tablets as a last resort (Cut that weight!) As Ed Abbey once said, "In any case, when a man must be afraid to drink freely from his own country's rivers and streams that country is no longer fit to live in."

That is the benefit that I most enjoy -- no more time and energy wasted hunched over a filter pumping away. It definitely enhances my experience on a trip.
© WhitneyZone Message Board