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    Originally posted by Moonlight Shadow View Post

    I just filter it with my Sawyer, get rids of almost everything. I do have iodine capsules just in case but I don't go to places where I would need them. If I was camping by farmland I would use a different filter though, one that deals with heavy metal and pesticides contamination. Steripen looks good actually but do you also have a fine mesh sediment filter?
    No, I tend to do either overnight camps where I'm carrying what I need, trips to places where I know the source is clear and a steripen is enough, or somewhere like India/Nepal where the water is 'drinking' water but I need to zap a few local bugs to which I've no tolerance. It does the job well in those circumstances and mine is rechargeable via USB, so perfect for tea-house/homestay trekking and suchlike.I wouldn't want to rely on it if I was in say, up in the Black Mountains or Brecons where there's often a lot of sediment.

    I have a plan for a couple of longish walks were I'd be camping a lot more and I think I need something like a Sawyer. Which model do you recommend?

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      Sawyer Mini, cheap and light. As mentioned, it does not filter viruses but I would not concern myself with that when filtering water in the hills or in the UK in general (do not use to filter water by agricultural or industrial land though, it does not filter heavy metals and pesticides). I used to have a DrinkSafe system that filtered all of that but the water debit was painfully slow whilst the Sawyer takes a minute of squeezing to get water for a large brew. I have two large sqeezy bags that attach to filter and and wide mouth bottle if I need to scoop out water from static water.

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        Cheers, that's useful. That's the one I looked at earlier. I think in my head I'd been confusing a couple of systems, including a Lifestraw, and been put off by the thought it wouldn't filter bugs, or at least, I couldn't be trusted to operate it safely. I might get one.

        Yer Steripen wouldn't deal with metals or pesticides either.

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          I do carry a few capsules of chlorine with me in case I suspect fecal contamination by humans (popular tarns in the Lake District can be a problem but that's pushing the caution to max level, you would need a lot of people taking a dump to cause a serious contamination) but simply boiling your water for a minute will sort out the issue, should there be one.

          Which leads me to a sanitary piece of advice to people new to the joys of outdoors defecation, do so away from water sources and bury it, burn your toilet paper if safe to do so and avoid standard wipes that do not biodegrade easily (ideally you should carry your poop down with you but...). I am always puzzled by people taking a dump right by a path, why chance an embarrassing encounter...?

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            More mushrooms today (just finished eating them for dinner). Hungarian popular name translates as "horse fart mushrooms". In English giant puffball

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              You eat those? We were always told they were poisonous. We used to kick them around like footballs.

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                Originally posted by Sits View Post
                You eat those? We were always told they were poisonous. We used to kick them around like footballs.
                Puffballs are edible, earth balls are poisonous. They can look similar on the outside, but puffballs are very different inside.

                <safety announcement voice>"Always get an expert to identify mushrooms."</voice>

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                  Returned to the Cumbria Way yesterday, doing the c. 16 mile leg from Dungeon Ghyll in Langdale, over Stake Pass, through Borrowdale, along Derwent Water, into Keswick.

                  Some rustic route signage:

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                    Leaving Langdale:

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                      The watershed at the top of Stake Pass - rain falling to the left ends up in the Solway, to the right ends up in Morecambe Bay:

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                        And finally, view from the top, through Langstraith towards Borrowdale:

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                          Lovely.

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                            Looks wonderful. You're lucky to be able to get to such a beautiful part of the world.

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                              I like to point out to people where rainfall ends up as well, if it falls over there it goes into the Chelmer, if it falls over there is goes into the Crouch as is the case in my home county of Essex. Crossing watersheds is always exciting or at least I think so. After the bleakness of the journey up the opening up of the valley in front of you is always a reward for a climb no matter how tough or easy it has been.

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                                Classic route there Walt. Langstrath is gorgeous, particularly lower down

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                                  The missus tackling the exit scramble of Sharp Edge on Blencathra a couple of weeks ago...

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                                    The scary bit on Sharp Edge. The rock was none dry so easy enough but I would be quite tense if wet, not much grip to it...

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                                      Missus on Formby Beach

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                                        Fantastic shots WFD and MS -- I'd sure like to get to that part of England.

                                        This morning we made a short trip to our nearby Manzano Mountains. We did a hike on the rocky Westridge trail, getting up to about 7300'.





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                                          Originally posted by Moonlight Shadow View Post
                                          Classic route there Walt. Langstrath is gorgeous, particularly lower down
                                          My knowledge of this stuff has been shamefully low until relatively recently, given that I've lived all my life on the doorstep. Or in my defence I was busy bringing up kids and any Lake District walking we did was naturally limited to family friendly routes like Buttermere. Current priority is to finish off the Cumbria Way (I have the two southernmost legs still to do) and then I'll look for other routes. As you know public transport can be a challenge round here - even working out the logistics for these legs has taken a bit of planning.

                                          Scrambling up and down rocks is well outside my comfort zone, so I'm both impressed and terrified by your photos there.

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                                            Lovely photos all. I regret that I’ve never been to the Lakes.

                                            And Cal, that landscape is remarkably similar to some of our more unspoilt areas round here.

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                                              Sharp Edge terrified the shit out of me the one time I was there. I bottled it and took the long route instead.

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                                                The scary bit on Sharp Edge does indeed look very scary, MS, thanks for the great photo. Pretty sure I'll never attempt that route.

                                                I am more thoroughly scared by such edges with each passing year as my balance seems to get a little weaker and my legs a little less steady going downhill (at least in my imagination, possibly in reality also). I don't think I could face some of the walks I did back in my twenties now.

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                                                  Yeah, my memory of Sharp Edge was that there wasn't a scary bit, rather that the whole thing was. I've also climbed Blencathra via the Hall Fell route and that was like a road in comparison.

                                                  Saturday I walked around Wentworth and Elsecar (north Rotherham / south Barnsley). Saw some parkland deer (no rutting) and a lot of acorns. Went for a look at the Hoober Stand folly near Wentworth and learnt a new word "pyramidal".

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                                                    Those kind of climbs I just totally avoid. If I can't walk it I'm not interested.

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