Water

[lzc]

Hello,

Newbie headed to the island this weekend.
We are just trying to wrap up our last minute needs. I've purchased the Isle Royale map, but was disappointed that it didn't specify where water can be found.
We are bringing a pump-style water purifier (with tablets as a back up). We are used to hiking in the S Utah high desert and are trying to familiarize ourselves with how it works in a place that should have water available.
Is water easy to come by at/near the campsites?

Thanks!

[Tampico]

I don't know of any water on the island that can't be rendered potable, unless there is a blue-green algae bloom going on. Lake Superior is the most obvious source. While I don't do it often, I have drunk water directly from the lake, unfiltered. There are dozens of inland lakes and streams. The only place I'm aware of where water is scarce are the Island Mine campsites.

Bring a spare filter or two.

[hooky]

I don't know of any water on the island that can't be rendered potable, unless there is a blue-green algae bloom going on. Lake Superior is the most obvious source. While I don't do it often, I have drunk water directly from the lake, unfiltered. There are dozens of inland lakes and streams. The only place I'm aware of where water is scarce are the Island Mine campsites.

Bring a spare filter or two.

This pretty much covers it.

[drobarge]

You should not have much trouble with water. I have yet to find myself in a situation where I needed a spare filter (not to imply that the need couldn't arise) Myself I choose to gamble that I will not have to deal with a broken filter. You shouldn't find yourself in a life or death situation with water on Isle Royale. In an emergency there are sources in reach where boiling will get you through and the Big Lake is never more than a few miles away anyhow, should you need it. If you are familiar with high desert hiking you will find the Island a breeze...ENJOY!

[lzc]

Great, thanks so much!

I had a bad experience with water (lack thereof) in the desert and it's made me quite hesitant about water situations.
BTW, when you are hiking with people and you don't think they are bringing enough water (especially on a 14mile day hike in the desert with temps in the 100s) Speak Up! It was my father in law and his wife so I didn't speak up. I really regretted it when I had to give them most of my water and ended up dehydrated, hallucinating rain, and discovering how much water one can suck out of an apple!

[Tampico]

I should also note that I wouldn't drink unfiltered water from the big lake at the shore. I've only done this far offshore.

[Midwest Ed]

Hello,

We are bringing a pump-style water purifier (with tablets as a back up).

Hello lzc and welcome,

The National Park Service does not recommend purification tablets as the sole method of water treatment. They will not eliminate all parasites found on the island, specifically tapeworm eggs. Only filtering or boiling are considered acceptable treatments for this parasite.

This is a quote from page 5 of the park 2012 newsletter:

"Potable water is only available in Rock Harbor and Windigo. All surface lake and stream water should be considered contaminated with natural parasites. Drinking contaminated water can make you very sick. Water collected in the park should be boiled for at least one minute or passed through a 0.4 micron filter. To be assured of no risk of contamination from small bacteria and viruses, all filtered water should be further treated with iodine or other approved chemical methods. By itself, chemical treatment is not an effective method of water purification. If you boil your water, bring plenty of stove fuel. If filtering, bring a replacement cartridge for filters that cannot be cleaned in the field. Please note: SteriPENs have not been manufacturer tested for a common Isle Royale parasite and cannot be considered effective."

http://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/u ... e_2012.pdf

[Keweenaw]

Hello,

Newbie headed to the island this weekend.
We are just trying to wrap up our last minute needs. I've purchased the Isle Royale map, but was disappointed that it didn't specify where water can be found.
We are bringing a pump-style water purifier (with tablets as a back up). We are used to hiking in the S Utah high desert and are trying to familiarize ourselves with how it works in a place that should have water available.
Is water easy to come by at/near the campsites?

Thanks!

Every campground has a water source nearby. The 2 least convenient are Island Mine (tiny stream) and East Chickenbone (steep downhill to get to the water's edge).

Make sure you have plenty if you are hiking the ridges - not much water up there.

[lzc]

Great, thanks!
Yea, the tablets are our "triple backup, super desperate" water method behind the mechanical filter and boiling.

Can't wait! We leave tomorrow

[nechuta]

Followup question, are you filling up with your water for days 1 - ? before you get on the boat, or do you fill up at Windigo/Rock Harbor? How much water do you find yourself carrying at one time? Looking to upgrade my hydration pack to the platypus big zip, which comes in 1-2 and 3 liter sizes. Thanks

[Ingo]

Followup question, are you filling up with your water for days 1 - ? before you get on the boat, or do you fill up at Windigo/Rock Harbor? How much water do you find yourself carrying at one time? Looking to upgrade my hydration pack to the platypus big zip, which comes in 1-2 and 3 liter sizes. Thanks

I will fill up for day 1 at Windigo or Rock Harbor (the 2 places with potable water). Then filter at each campground, carrying enough for the day--2 liters normally, or 3 if it's going to be a long hot day.

[alecto73]

I also go with a 3 liter and run between 2 & 3 depending on the miles and the heat. I fill up on the island.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[DonNewcomb]

You should not have much trouble with water. I have yet to find myself in a situation where I needed a spare filter (not to imply that the need couldn't arise) ...

For some reason we never figured out, our watter filter clogged up. The source water looked clear but the filter clogged anyway. We ended up buying a cheap filter at Windigo.

[alecto73]

I carry micropur tabs just in case. Not ideal but beats not filtering and I'm too much of a weight weenie for a second filter. The one I carry can be back flushed in the field.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Ernest T Bass]

This is an excerpt from a response I gave to another person regarding the Sawyer water filtering system and my experience with it. I thought I would add it to other threads regarding water/filtration. Hope this is helpful.

I have a Sawyer Point One Squeeze System that I purchased on Amazon last spring. It consists of the cartridge filter and three bags (32, 16, and 12 ounces). My wife and I made our first visit to IR last September. We each had an empty 32 oz Gatorade bottle that we used to carry and drink filtered water.
We did the Feldtmann Lake loop from Windigo. I thought the Sawyer system worked extremely well, and I plan to stick with this in the future. The system itself weighs about 3 ounces, I can't see how you can get much lighter than this. You just want to be careful in filling your bottle to not drip unfiltered water into the filtered water. The only problem I encountered was a little water tended to leak out of the cartridge when in my pack (there is a plastic cap that you can replace on the spout tip, but the end that screws on the bags still remains open and can leak). I plan to solve this by carrying the filter in a mini ziplock bag. We carried unfiltered water in the Sawyer bags with the caps that come with the bags, and filtered what we needed as we went. We also had some Mio (concentrated flavoring liquid) with us, which was really nice.
I did have a Sea to Summit camp sink, which I used to carry all the filtering equipment and water bags inside my pack. I also used it to get water initially, before transferring it into the bags (to fill the bags, I used a small plastic glass that my wife brought from the hotel we stayed at before coming over on the Voyageur II). This cracked and subsequently needed a duct tape fix.
For our next trip, I am leaving the S-t-S sink at home, replacing it with 2 or 3 two gallon ziplock bags, which will save a lot of weight. I plan to snip the corner off a smaller ziplock bag to use as a funnel in transferring water from the big ziplocks to the Sawyer bags. I do know that a few people have had problems with the Sawyer bags leaking. I found that they will flow water through the filter by gravity alone. I did squeeze them, but did so rather gently. It does not take much pressure to filter a reasonable amount of water pretty quickly. Personally, I think the system rocks and I plan to stick with this for some time to come.

Happy trails!

ETB