Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Sources of unfiltered water, Mountaineer's Route

Rock Dudes and Dudettes,

I understand that hikers/packers needn't filter their water, but I'm concerned about gathering *standing* water, rather than the flowing white stuff.

* Other than at the North Fork cutoff from the Main Trail and the waterfall just before the Ebersbacher Ledges, are there any other FLOWING water sources on the route? How about the slabs above LBSL?

* Am I OK getting my fluid from *standing* water?
I assume that gathering the water farthest from any camping area (common sense) is recommended, and I'll have a collapsible 1-gallon bucket.

* Specifically where are the best places to gather water in LBSL, UBSL, and Iceberg lakes? Or, am I safe if I just stay away from the obvious places?

I'll "filter" the water I gather through a bandana, but if you have any other tried-and-true method, I'd sure appreciate it.

Thanks a million,
L

In studies published by Dr. Robert Derlet from U.C. Davis, he has found that lake water is usually more pure than stream water. The thinking is that the solar UV works to help purify the still water, while streams tend to pick up a little more debris.

Just dip and drink, as long as it looks clear.

Thanks a million, Steve.

Hey Bigfoot just did the MR today, in addition to below the ledges, there is good flow out of LBSL, the slabs just above LBSL, and the outlet waterfall from GSL. I chose to tank up at the waterfall outlet of Iceberg for the final push. Also a warning, there is a small stream crossing about 5 minutes below LBSL, it smells very fowl right there like someone took a dump. I looked around but found nothing. That made me very uneasy about drinking downstream from there. Also found a discarded used poop sack at the summit, man get a few of those into the creek and we're gonna have a problem.
Other than that great day, plenty of friendly people, walk in permit available day before, can't complain too much.

Here is Bob R's document of water along the MR

http://www.ridgenet.net/~rockwell/Whitney_water_MR.pdf

might be a stupid question ... as we stay up for 4 nights at LBSL and iceberg lake we wanne take a swim if possible ... does that makes the waterquality less good so we better wouldn't do the swimming for other hikers/climbers?

I have to admit, seeing someone swimming in the lake would convince me not to drink the water.

I saw a couple getting out of the water at Iceberg Lake last week. They either went for a dip or they washed themselves.

A couple of weeks ago, I witnessed 3 people washing or at least rinsing clothes off in the stream leading into Trail Camp pond! This included their dirty socks. . .

I went upstream to the base of the ice to get my water!

if you lay there waithing for the next summitattempt it is very tempting to take a dip so important question