[pct-l] glacial runoff

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I wouldn't worry about it. It's not going to hurt you. Remember when  
you were a kid and you grew carrots in the garden and you would pull  
one up, brush it off a little bit and then eat it? It's not going to  
be any worse than that.

How many times was I compelled to drink glacial runoff on the PCT?  
Maybe one time. I put a little extra aquamira in it like the  
directions said to do and drank it. I didn't even bother to wait for  
it to settle. If I could wait that long, I'd probably be at a clear  
stream by then.

Diane

On Aug 21, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Hey all I have a question that I've yet to find a good answer to.  Is
> it ok to drink cloudy glacial runoff.  I've always just treated it
> with aqua mira and let it sit a little longer/used a little extra.  I
> don't filter it because it seems like that fine silt would clog a
> filter asap.  Recently though I hiked the wonderland trail around
> Rainier (great hike but snowy) and another hiker swore it's not
> healthy to drink the stuff and went out of his way to walk a half mile
> up the trail from the site to a clear water source.  Thoughts on
> cloudy glacial water?  Is the high mineral content bad for you?  Does
> it prevent chemical purification from even working?
>
> Granite