[philmont] Best and worst

Best - North Fork Pine River in the Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado - 11,000'+ pure snowmelt about 15' from the source

The artesian spring on Hwy 259 near the Ouachita Trail (discussed earlier - look for the Pipe Spring picnic/rest area) is on the best list - locals all bring their water coolers there to fill up

Worst - Camp Sasawqua (spelling?) near Sulfur, OK - need I say more...

--
Shane (from work)
Advisor - Crew 445 - crew445.org
CM - Troop 445 - troop445.org
WM - Philmont Forum - philmontforum.org
'81-9 | '84-24 | '00-8 | '02-23FM | '05-26 | '08-??
---- John LeBlanc <philmontjohn@yahoo.com> wrote: 
        Besides being a leader, I'm a pretty good follower.  I guess you might say "lead, follow or get out of the way".  So I'll follow Joe and Stephens lead.
   
  The absolute best water I've ever tasted was from the artesian spring flowing 24X7 at the entrance sign to the old, now closed Pearl Brewery in SanAntone, Texas.  Yeah, I spelled it wrong but that's the way we Texans who are proud of that city and the place it played in our history pronounce it.  Old San Antone just has a beter ring than San Antonio.
   
  Anyway, I drank water from that spring back in the 50's on trips with my family when cars were rather hot in the summertime and cool, clear, good tasting water was a treat.
   
  While in the U S Army stationed in San Antone a buddy and I would make the drive to the brewery about twice a week and fill water coolers to have something good to drink.  I am not a beer drinker but I do understand a beers flavor comming from the water source.
   
  Next best is from a artesian fountain in a park in Mena, Arkansas where my mother grew up and passed on her walk to elementery school.  That was back in the early 1920's and it's still flowing there.
   
  Probably third best wwas straight from Lake Kawnipi up in Quetico Provincial park., but all three of these sources of water stand out in my mind for their good taste.
   
  And thw worst was from springs alongside the Rio Grande on my first Lower Canyons canoe trip in 1976.  It had recently rained and the river was flowing like chocolate milk.  We were a week on the river and had to gather water.  We found some beautiful, clear water springs along the river.  Great find or so we thought.  The water was first off hot and then so saturated with minerals that it tasted like dilute milk of magnesia.
   
  So we Boy Scouted it.  We took water from the river and let it sit for a couple of hours in a five gallon bucket to let the mud settle out.  Poured off the clear supernatant (theres a HS chemistry class term for you) and boiled it then strained it through clean cloth.  It was good tasting water despite the arsenic and DDT it probably contained.  And what was left in the bucket you could have made an adobe brick out of.
   
  I can say quite honstly that I've never run out of water on a planned hike.  I've come close and I've drank my last drop a time or two right at the end, but I've never had to push on without mucho aqua.
   
  I;ve treated some and drank it on the trail back in the halazone and iodine pill days when I wish I'd rather drank cow pee, it was that nasty, but I've never done without.
   
  And in my truck to this day and in my wifes car and both my daughters vehicles are several, read that many bottles of water.  That's their place in life for if I or anyone else needs them.
   
  Water, water, cool, clear, wat-ter!
   
  John LeBlanc
      
       
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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------