Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board fishy tasting lake

Hi all,
I backpacked into Sabrina Basin last weekend and camped at Blue Lake (~10,000 ft). We filtered lake water to drink but the taste was disgusting - very fishy tasting. Completely undrinkable so we melted snow for water. I have never experienced this from a Sierra lake or stream in the past. Has anyone else ever run across this problem?
thanks,
Guido

Guido, I've drunk the water out of lakes and rivers all over the Sierras and never tasted fishy water; and I've caught lots of fish, too. Did you try the lake water without the filter? I also wonder about your filter. You might test running home water through your filter to see if it still tastes fishy. I suspect your filter may be the culprit, especially if you have not cleaned it in some time. But, if you have already cleaned the filter since the trip...well, I guess we won't know until the next time you taste fishy water.

Hi Wayne,
yes, I tasted the water without the filter. It was disgusting. We filtered water from several streams on the way up and then again on the way back down and it tasted just fine. I have been drinking water (filtered and unfiltered) in the Sierras since 1970 and I have never run into this problem. Very puzzling...

This is a new one. Somebody needs to make a run up to Blue Lake and get a sample and send it to Dr. Derlet.

A couple of times over the last few years I have thought the water from Iceberg Lake has tasted fishy - both filtered and unfiltered. None of my hiking partners noticed it, so I figured it was just me - something in my body/nose/system/imagination that was causing this. I have no explanation. Hydralyte with a flavor I like helps mask whatever it is. Ultimately I figure, hey, it's the outdoors...

Conversely, the best water I ever remember tasting was from a waterfall just before Anvil Camp on the Shepherd Pass trail. So good on a hot day.

Good tip, Mark. I'll look out for that this weekend! Thanks!

-Laura

You've probably heard why W.C. Fields said he never drank water: "Fish poop in it." (There's a saltier version but since this is a discussion about fresh water I won't quote it.)

Three of us were up there this weekend (climbed Mts. Thompson and Powell, and even managed a new route on one of the unnamed 13ers in the area).

On the way out this morning, I made it a point to taste the water at the outlet of Blue Lake. Without saying why, I asked my friends to do so also. We all agreed that it tasted fine. Unfiltered, of course.

Bob R, I tried to get up to Point Powell in 06, went up the center of the pic below, up the scree chute to the top of the Col.and none of us there could figure out any route to the top short of 5th class+. Any suggestions. Thanks
URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2981374230052939326hhTZJk][/URL]

maybe this link will work
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2981374230052939326hhTZJk

This should probably be a separate topic on a different message board, but....

Check my pictures from the weekend. We descended the chute you are talking about.

Daryl and Mike went up from that col. They described it as mostly class 4, with crux moves around 5.5 or 5.6. On the descent, we all dropped from the Point Powell plateau to the south (see picture 41), then ascended to that col and down the north side (as in your picture).

To climb Point Powell again, I would repeat the NE couloir, although it is very steep (firm grip on ax!) and dangerously loose above the snow. But our descent route down around the back side was no picnic.

Sorry I forgot my camera; I would have taken more pictures.

Here is a shot of SnowNymph coming up the scree from last year.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2315392960052939326mXGbUB