water systems for Sierra alpine climbing

When doing long days or light over night trips I look for a reliable source to fill both a bottle and a bladder. That said, for river trips and other extended trips I have been using a Katadyn hanging filter instead of my Katadyn pump (which for years has been the pump to use). However, the pumps are a bit of a PITA. The passive systems are easier. 

If I were to suggest a filter for what the OP describes I would look at one of the Katadyn 3 Liter Befree systems. As a sealable bladder system one could fill up bottles then carry what they need. So the bladder/filter serves a bit of double duty. I have not looked closely at the durability and closure of bladder/filter but certainly worth considering. 

http://californiamountaineer.net/giardia.html

This is a good read on Giardia in the Sierra and it’s risks.  Basically go ahead and drink.  Most if not all giardia or other tummy ailments are from not washing your hands then preparing meals or dipping your filthy hands into yer buddies bag of gorp and passing it on that way.  
I’ve been drinking unfiltered water in the Sierra for 50 years and have never had an issue.

One exception for me is the Whitney area.    

Thanks for that link, interesting read and confirmed some highly uneducated guesses I had about the topic. I've never filtered and even drank straight out of iceberg lake for an extended trip. Later saw a (used) wag-bag floating in the lake. I guess I wouldn't recommend that. Usually try to use common sense like mentioned in the article - large, fast-flowing water if possible, etc

I have used a steripen for 15 to 20 years.  I think they are much more reliable than filters which always clog well before their rated life.

Guilty - have not been sick, yet. I agree iodine is the way to go, but the OP said it wasn't for them for whatever reason. 

My two cents: I'll second the use of chemical treatments, though the OP is trying to avoid them. Their weight is negligible compared to any mechanical treatment option. I have used a Steripen extensively, both in the Sierra and in multiple foreign countries. I've never gotten sick using the Steripen and they are much lighter than most (all?) filtration options, but I find the battery life to be much shorter than advertised and my model requires some weird-ass battery type that is a royal pain to find. 

A major problem with iodine and chlorine is the required contact time to kill organisms gets to be very long as the water gets colder.  I'm not particularly interested in reading 25 minutes or more to drink the water.

Also the effectiveness is reduced with changes in ph.  

I have gotten giardia from drinking water in the Sierra twice since 2008, but I wasn’t being very careful about my drinking sources.

Brian Princewrote:

Thanks for that link, interesting read and confirmed some highly uneducated guesses I had about the topic. I've never filtered and even drank straight out of iceberg lake for an extended trip. Later saw a (used) wag-bag floating in the lake. I guess I wouldn't recommend that. Usually try to use common sense like mentioned in the article - large, fast-flowing water if possible, etc

Eww.  Reminds me of that time I drink a bottle of orange soda in Nepal and found some brown sludge on the bottom of the bottle.  Re Kevin’s link, I had seen that article opining that most assumed cases of giardia are due to poor hygiene.  That seems very plausible, but it still seems like having any form of purifier is cheap insurance against a quick end to your trip.  

quoting from that link above, "Municipal water utilities must use filters to remove the organism.  San Francisco water, coming primarily from the Hetch Hetchy watershed in Yosemite National Park, has repeatedly tested positive for Giardia, although at very low levels:  typically 0.12 cysts per liter.  Water collected in Hetch Hetchy already meets govern­mental standards for drinking water and is not required to be filtered before distribution because of its high quality."

So where are those cysts coming from?  Urban reservoir?  The cyst count is higher once it gets to San Francisco than in Hetch Hetchy?

The Katadyn be free filter is a really cool device that I take everywhere with me in the sierra. It's compatible with hydarpak bladders and has a crazy fast flow rate that allows you to drink directly from your bottle without any inconvenience. It gives me added piece of mind, and options towards picking my water source.

If your C2Cing it your last source of water should be off flow from snowpack or glacial waters thats been filtering through the largest granite sand filter around.  You’ll be fine, and if you aren’t you won’t realize till your done and back in your car.  Just stick that bottle in a flowing stream and you’ll be fine.  Real trouble these days is that there might not be much of a stream left in the late season!

Nico Wrightwrote:

If your C2Cing it your last source of water should be off flow from snowpack or glacial waters thats been filtering through the largest granite sand filter around.  You’ll be fine, and if you aren’t you won’t realize till your done and back in your car.  Just stick that bottle in a flowing stream and you’ll be fine.  Real trouble these days is that there might not be much of a stream left in the late season!

The red fungus in the snow can get you sick ass well. I wouldn’t trust any water near any climbing route.

From some of the papers I've read, no links available, streams and rivers mix everything up. But, those deep and clear lakes at altitude have most of the impurities sinking deep...

If your balls enough to C2C big alpine objectives in the Sierra’s you should be able to accept the minimal risk of getting the shits.

I usually don't filter if I'm above 7000ft, and sometimes don't filter below that.  I virtually never carry water unless I'm on a climbing route because it's usually pointless in the Sierra, just drink a lot when you pass water and you're usually good (with obvious dry, uphill exceptions).  I've been very happy with the SteriPen because I don't even have to stop walking to use it.  The downside is needing a bottle with a wide lid, lake the standard Nalgene, which are kinda heavy.  

A Note on Giardia:  It takes an average of 7-14 days to get symptoms so it can't ruin shorter trips.  Most people that think they got Giardia had other issues, the only way to confirm it is with a stool sample and you'd be hard pressed to find someone that actually confirmed it.  Many people already have low counts of Giardia in their systems with no symptoms (only about half of people with Giardia have symptoms) so you can actually get it from yourself with poor hygiene.    Moving water where few mammals have pooped upstream is the best source (deer, horses, and some rodents can spread it).   If you're getting water from a lake, the safest route is to be on the upwind side and dip your bottle about 1 ft underwater to fill it.  Giardia cysts float and move with current.  On the rare occasion you actually have Giardia and it was from Sierra water (very rare, especially at high elevations), it's not an intensely terrible experience, it's usually just uncomfortable and stinky.  To treat it you no longer have to take Flagyl for a week, which is terrible, but instead there's a single dose medication that you take once and it clears it up in a couple of days. 

 Long story short, don't worry about filtering for the most part, there's a lot of bad giardia info out there but going light and drinking from clear mountain water is a fantastic experience.  

old5tenwrote:

https://www.katadyngroup.com/us/en/8018006-katadyn-befree-1.0l-us~p6730

pros - light, compact when empty, easy to use, two in one (filter plus bottle)

cons - somewhat hosed if you bust the plastic 'bottle' (sturdier aftermarket available)

This is what I have been using for long alpine F&L car to car days. I love everything about it. The filter thread fits on a variety of other bottles if you do bust the plastic bottle. But the flexible bottle it comes with is great, i haven't had any issues yet, and barely takes up and room in your pack.

Camelback, sometimes with iodine tabs. No filter.
The only place I'd encourage a filter that I've been to recently is if you're going up towards Palisade Glacier. The water in that lake is like milk shooting out of the Earth's gnarly teat. One of five stars.

S Twrote:

The red fungus in the snow can get you sick ass well. I wouldn’t trust any water near any climbing route.

Good lord this forum is full of people who don't do any research and just spout whatever nonsense pops in to their head.

That "red fungus" on the snow is just a unique pigmentation of a green algae that lives on the snow all the time.  This algea, Chlamydomonas nivalis, is not known to be toxic in any way (see the citation at the bottom of the article).

Nico Wrightwrote:

That "red fungus" on the snow is just a unique pigmentation of a green algae that lives on the snow all the time.  This algea, Chlamydomonas nivalis, is not known to be toxic in any way (see the citation at the bottom of the article).

The snow algae itself is likely safe to eat as there is no evidence supporting that it would cause diarrhea when ingested.[43]

i agree with you, but the citation at the bottom is not as balck and white as you make it sound... has anyone actually looked for evidence?