My Journey to Freedom and Ultralight Backpacking (22 page)

  The water sacks are very useful when you are stationary (campsite, or lunch break). You wouldn’t be able to haul water in them in the desert for many hiking miles. If they develop a small leak, repair them with 100% silicone, allowed to air dry at least 12 hours.

  There may be times when you must pick up water from shallow or murky places. If you are carrying soda bottles, you may need to get out a small plastic cup to dip with. You can strain out the debris with your bandana by placing it over the mouth of the bottle, and pouring it through slowly. Having at least one wide-mouth soda bottle would be very handy at these times. After straining the water, add your chemicals. If you have a filter, you may be able to find a spot deep enough to pump. Sometimes, there is only enough to dip. Plan to have a small receptacle flexible enough to catch water from a trickling stream. An 18-ounce empty plastic peanut butter jar, an 8-ounce margarine container, or a cut off 16-ounce soda bottle bottom all work well. All these containers will hold boiling water, but will shrink the first time. They can double as soup mugs and coffee cups in camp. Preshrink them at home by pouring boiling water into them when they are in the kitchen sink to avoid any accidents.

  Water treatment
is such a controversial subject that I suggest each hiker research the issue and decide for him or herself which method he or she is most comfortable with. One important caution, however; never hike into the backcountry with only a water filter. They can fail, and often do. Handles break, seals fail, inline filters clog and become useless. Always carry some chemical to use as back-up water treatment. While boiling water is effective, sometimes a person doesn't have enough fuel to rely on this for their back-up method. Boiling times differ for higher elevations and water concerns. A
Wilderness First Aid text stated that:

"The common diarrhea-causing microorganisms are sensitive to heat.  The protozoa Giardia and Amoeba, which cause amebiasis, die after two to three minutes at 140*F (60*C).  Viruses and diarrhea-producing bacteria die within minutes at 150*F (65*C).  Diarrhea-causing microorganisms are killed immediately by boiling water (212*F).  By the time water boils, it is safe to drink.  A five to ten minute boil sterilizes water. Remember, boiling point decreases with increasing elevation but does not affect disinfection.  The boiling point at 19,000 feet is 178*F (81*C), sufficient for disinfecting water."

NOLS Wilderness First Aid, pp. 288-9.

  If you have Internet access, a search using "backcountry water treatment" will yield good links. The best one I have found so far is http://www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm. It is written in lay terms, and just in case it becomes unavailable to future readers, I will list some of the highlights. Most of this deals with giardia, but there are also charts at that site concerning other bacteria.

  Highly respected wilderness physicians wrote that although hundreds of gallons of water have been tested in the backcountry of America, only one or two giardia organisms might be found in any one spot. This is generally not enough for infection. The danger is likened to a shark attack at a beach.

 
Giardia
is a protozoan when active, and attaches itself with an adhesive substance to the upper intestinal lining of the host animal.
 
It feeds and reproduces by dividing about every 12 hours.
 
A single parasite can theoretically create more than a million in 10 days and a billion in 15 days. Once the host starts shedding these parasites into the environment, other animals can become infected. A human may shed as many as 900 million per day. A really important note is that even though cysts can survive for as long as 2 to 3 months in cold water,
they cannot survive freezing. This means that the high country in winter and early spring is not likely to have viable cysts.

  The gut wrenching symptoms take an average of nine days to appear, sometimes not even showing up for four weeks. They can disappear suddenly and reappear later.
 
They may lay dormant for months or not appear at all. Contaminated food or water, and direct fecal contact can cause infestation. Twenty percent of the world's population, and an estimated seven percent of Americans, are infected. Reportedly up to sixty percent of the children in some day-care centers are infected with giardia. Institutions for the mentally retarded, public swimming pools, promiscuous male homosexuals, international travelers, patients with cystic fibrosis, and family members of these individuals all have high infestation rates.

  Several people became ill when a cook prepared a salad with her hands. She didn’t test positive for giardia, but her child did. The lesson to be learned here is to wash hands thoroughly before preparing food, and to be careful whose food bag you eat from.

 
Another good link is I found in my search is http://gorp.com/gorp/activity/hiking/medical/water.htm
It deals with water treatment, and is from GORP, The Great Outdoors Recreation Page. Studies have shown that filters do not decrease the reported illnesses of backcountry hikers. One study wrote that in their survey, 59% of filter users became ill within just a few days of beginning their hikes. One habit filter users may develop is judging water to be safe because they don't feel like pumping it through their partially clogged filters. If you carry a back up one-ounce bottle of chlorine, you can treat the water instead of taking a chance.

  Many hikers use iodine. It is lightweight, inexpensive, and comes in tablets or drops. However, note the small print on the bottle. Some brands state that the water must be at least 50 degrees for the chemical to disinfect it properly. Also, the taste may affect your food if the water is added when cooking. Adding half of a vitamin C tablet will clear the color of the water, and improve its taste. However, some people develop stomach distress if they use too much vitamin C because of the acidity. Just a little bit goes a long way, and it also inactivates the purifying compound. Therefore, allow sufficient time for the purification process before adding anything containing vitamin C, including powdered drink mixes. 

  Chlorine is used all over the world, in cities and in the backcountry, to treat unsafe water. It is also used in municipal water treatment plants. The Environmental Protection Agency has a great
report about the safe treatment of overflow water using chlorine. You can find this report at this web page: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwhealth.html.

You can get an in-depth report at that site by typing "chlorine" into the search format. Over time, chlorine does breakdown in warm water and sunlight. Chlorine is ineffectual in very cold water. However, chlorine is easy to obtain, requires only a few drops per liter, and will dissipate with time in treated water. The amount of debris in water will affect how many drops are needed for saturation and disinfection, a good reason for straining murky water before treating it. Rainmaker has used only chlorine to treat water for 10 years of hiking, and reports no ill effects. I have used chlorine exclusively for all my hikes, and I have never been sick from tainted water. Chlorine can be carried in small, leak-proof bottles, which allows the liquid to be used in droplets. I carry mine in a small pocket on my hip belt.

  Boundary Water Magazine, found at

http://boundarywatersmagazine.com/features/0801_water.htm, has a great article with other resources for further study, which deals with the combination of filters and chemical treatments. Also, further down their web page, a look at how the absence of sanitary practices leads to illness.

   Proper hygiene can eliminate most of the gastrointestinal problems that hikers encounter. Always be sure that hiking partners practice proper hand cleaning if they share any eating equipment or food with you. If you take food from hiker boxes, precautions include not eating from any opened or partially used containers of food. When using a privy, or after any bathroom procedure including digging cat holes, it is recommended to use sterilizing hand gel or rubbing alcohol on your hands after you finish. Rinse out your multi purpose bandana in cold running water and dry in sunlight whenever possible. Clean your cooking utensils at night. Periodically bring water to a rolling boil in your pot. In town, clean cooking utensils with soap and hot water, especially any rims on pots and cups. Do not use a single Styrofoam cup over an extended period, which cannot be sterilized.

Hygiene

   The purpose of good hygiene is to smell and look decent, prevent infections, and stay healthy. To accomplish this I bring just a few all purpose items.

My list follows:

 
Toothbrush
(half size) with its cover, and the traveler's size
toothpaste.
  Waxed, mint flavor
dental floss
. It makes great thread for repairs, and may save you costly dental bills later on. 

  About thirty
100% cotton balls,
which will burn, though the synthetic fiber blends will not. I use them dipped in
Isopropyl alcohol (
common 70 % solution rubbing alcohol), every evening under arms, feet and private parts of the body. This eliminates most odors and reduces inflammation and chaffing. After using a privy, I clean my hands with just a dab of alcohol to prevent serious stomach illnesses. Fifty percent rubbing alcohol will work for hygienic purposes, but cannot be used as a stove fuel. If I intend to use it for stove fuel as well as hygiene, I bring about 8 ounces. If it's just for hygiene, I bring 4 ounces.

  An
ultralight trowel
was designed for its savings in both weight and volume. With a smaller pack, every item is reworked, if possible. My trowel is the standard orange hiker's plastic trowel, with 1-inch cut from the handle, and 1 ½ inch cut off at the bottom of the blade. This saves ¾ ounce. Some say they use their boot heel, a rock or stick for digging a cat hole. It is difficult to dig a 6-inch deep hole (the depth recommended by Leave No Trace) in rocky or root embedded ground. You will be especially frustrated at this task if nature has given you a "red alert".

 
Toilet paper
is estimated on a town-to-town basis. I never bring an entire roll. Make sure you have enough when you leave town, placing it in a zip lock bag for protection against weather and critters. Shelter and privy mice love this stuff for nesting material. If it gets wet in the rain, it's worthless and very heavy. You are duty bound to pack out unused toilet paper.

  A
small comb
, which is useful when going into town, and avoiding impossibly tangled hair. A paradox is that while some women suddenly decide to shave their heads when starting a long hike, the guys decide to let theirs grow. In both decisions, I suppose it represents freedom. If you want long hair, braiding or pony tails will prevent it from becoming too damaged. A plastic comb makes a great back scratcher as well.

  A
disposable razor
, because I shave under my arms. I wear sleeveless shirts and like the way it looks. A case could be made for ticks sticking to hairy legs, or for shaving before applying medication to wounds. But the honest truth is, I bring it for vanity. One disposable razor weighs 6 grams. I put extras in my bounce box.

  Vaseline, lotion or sunscreen
are good items for keeping skin soft and healthy. Healthy, moisturized skin is less likely to crack in the desert, which is really important for the feet. Sunscreen should never be underestimated because a serious sunburn can be life threatening. Studies show prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays can cause skin cancer. Buy the best you can find, and apply every few hours between 8 a.m and 5 p.m for desert, unshaded, snow-covered and high elevation hiking.

 
Bandanas and camp towels
have so many uses, it's hard to imagine leaving home without one or the other. To keep from losing it, sew one corner back to form a large loop. Thread your pack strap or hip belt through. Bandanas can be used for dipping in streams to cool off during the day and for wiping condensation off your shelter. Of course, they can also be used when getting a sponge bath in the evenings. It can be used as a potholder, but only if dry. Otherwise, you may end up with a serious steam burn. Mittens are better potholders. I bring a bandana, but no camp towel. It’s the only thing in my pack that is 100% cotton.

Medical/Emergency/Repair

  First, my credentials and a disclaimer. I am not a doctor or a nurse. My medical training is limited to current certification in CPR Adult, Child and Infant, and First Aid, through the Red Cross. I raised six children with all their various health needs and adventures. I worked at a hospital for three winters, and am certified in Food Sanitation in the state of Illinois. In the last 3 years I have hiked over 5,000 miles.

  So, with that in mind, please take all ideas, personal stories, references and gear lists as suggestions only. Consult your doctor or a medical professional for all your health concerns.

  One of my favorite quotes is, “Most emergencies can be handled quite nicely with the proper application of a Master or Visa Card.” Even though it may take a few days, or require a runner to hike out to a place that accepts plastic, this statement is true. The application of money to any given situation will usually generate action.

  There is the opinion that a person is strong enough to carry in his or her pack only enough things to solve the simplest of emergencies. I tend to agree with that. But, I also think we usually have things in our packs or our surroundings that can be utilized for more serious medical needs. Some of these items may have originally been intended for pack repair, hiking poles, or clothing.