I like the cozy ideal.
Temp has never been an issue, neither has brackishness on shorter trips. It's the highly alkaline and mineral laden desert and elsewhere water, that makes me thirstier the more I drink it, and that which tastes and smells like cattle dung or upstream chicken or pig dung and meat packing plant death in the water that most concerns me. I'd rather drink from water in a Smartwater bottle, and have, that contains water fleas, mosquito larvae, sallammander or frog eggs, tadpoles, tiny fish fry, dead red wigglers, vegetation, the occasional dead may fly or hellagrammite than anything like that. Water with a strong chemical presence(odor, sight, viscosity, etc), including many tap waters with chlorine compounds, or water that has been laying a long time in older plastic water pipes (PVC, CPVC, PB) I strongly aim to avoid.
Nature can't kill you as effective as human waste can <G>
One problem I usually develope during longer desert trips is, that the stale taste of typical desert water (which might come from minerals and alkalines) that totally lacks the limestone pricklyness of our Alpine water starts to be disgusting me at times, and I have to force down the full amount to stay hydrated. So not the temperature is the problem, but the taste.
This.Originally Posted by Odd Man Out
This is the most enduring lesson I have taken from the trail.
Well said!
Add to that, being grateful for what you do have on the trail... clean water is on my grateful list. I'm actually one of those idiots who does NOT drink water at home, yet on the trail I often wonder why that is as its pretty good. I DO actually pursue cool water by using an insulated bottle and a cloth between my bladder and backpack frame, but truth is its short lived and more of a dodge to minimize drinking water that can be nearly hot during peak temps.
FWIW, this is what I use to keep my water cooler than a regular bottle- at 5oz not a big weight penalty and tough as nails
https://www.camelbak.com/en/bottles/...bff554a0168700
Water is water.....
Let's head for the roundhouse; they can't corner us there!
Water on the trail is one of life's greatest pleasures. Abundant water on the trail is even greater, for you can drink as much as you want and not worry about running out (at that moment, anyhow).
Water coming from ta spring or a high-mountain creek in the southern Appalachians is refreshing even in July and August. When it's hot and humid and you're sweaty and thirsty, the spring or creek is an oasis of pleasure.
That first glass of ice tea or ice water when you finish a tough, hot section hike in the summer? Awesome!
I understand where you are coming from. I drink ice in almost every beverage I consume at home and at a restaurant. Once, on a trip to Mexico, I visited several restaurants that evidently didn't have access to abundant ice and therefore didn't put much in the glass. It was gone rather quickly and I didn't enjoy it.
With that said, I still try to drink cold water right after filtering it from the cold creek. I like it better that way. With that said, a few miles later, when thirsty, lukewarm water is still refreshing and I enjoy it. To me, ice is a luxury and when I drink out on the trail, it is not our of enjoyment, it is out of necessity. For that reason, it never gets old or something I don't enjoy. I still prefer Ice cold beverages but on the trail, water, any water, is always refreshing. You will be fine without ice.
I drink warm water at home right out the tap.
I've never paid attention to water temperature on the trail as far as drinking it. It's all good.
And I'm working in a country right now where I haven't seen an ice cube in a drinking glass. They don't serve any drinks over ice. And when you drinking warm water out of a glass, the glass kind of smells sometimes.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 05-25-2018 at 15:22.
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