Checklist for winter trip to Baxter (bunkhouse/cabin)

sdways01 said:

While talking with a ranger in Baxter 2 summers ago, he told a story about a pair of hikers chipping through the ice at Chimney Pond to get water. They didn't treat it and both got sick. Could be just a way to get everyone to treat water, but how much would you want to risk it in the park during winter.

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How did he know it was the water? Until it's diagnosed medically as an internal parasite with a waterborne mode of transmission the sickness could just as easily be the result of anything such as norovirus. I would suggest something like the latter as the more likely possibility. Note the following quote from this article: Wilderness Acquired Diarrhea

"Wilderness acquired diarrhea and TD share the fecal-oral mode of transmission. Wilderness travelers are vulnerable. Outbreaks of shigellosis among Colorado River rafters were probably caused by transmission from infected staff preparing food [27,28]. This may also be the most common route of transmission of giardiasis [29]. Without the convenience of a sink and running water, hand washing is often omitted in the wilderness."

bikehikeskifish said:

Doesn't freezing a ceramic filter element cause it to crack therefore rendering it useless?

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That is my understanding. Even if you carry the filter in dry and can keep it from freezing in the cabin, it would be at risk for freezing on the way out, so you might have to replace the filter afterward.

Doug

Steripen in Winter conditions

From Remix: years ago I tried to use a Steripen to solve this issue, but any water below 50 deg F would prevent the Ultraviolet bulb from igniting or staying "lit".

I haven't had this problem, mine works with any water, even straight from running streams in winter. Not sure why yours would have had this issue. Mine's one of the original models, and I've owned it for quite a few years now, but never a problem.

expat said:

I haven't had this problem, mine works with any water, even straight from running streams in winter. Not sure why yours would have had this issue. Mine's one of the original models, and I've owned it for quite a few years now, but never a problem.

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When my son was going for a 2-day backpacking trip with his scout troop last weekend I gave him our SteriPen and he said it worked fine with cold water and sub-freezing ambient temperature. We have a SteriPen Adventurer (less than 2-years old) that uses lithium CR-123 batteries but I replaced them with rechargeable replacement lithiums I found on Amazon (labeled "LCR 16340 2000mAh 3.7V") that have slightly higher voltage as I measured it at full charge but within 4.2V guideline that I found on SteriPen Web site: http://www.steripen.com/batteries/