David K
Honored Nomad
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Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mesa el Avion climb, Matomi Wash View, Up the Matomi canyon
Mexitron has more great photos from the wild country south of Arroyo Matomi taken in 2003... They are added to his 1995 Matomi climb web page photo:
http://community-2.webtv.net/thebaja/mexitron
The three new pictures start at http://community-2.webtv.net/thebaja/mexitron/page4.html
[Edited on 7-25-2004 by David K]
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Registered: 8-30-2002
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Four more photos added from Mexitron's camera of the hike up Matomi Canyon beyond the ranch. http://community-2.webtv.net/TheBaja/mexitron/page5.html
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bajalou
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Location: South of the broder
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Thanks
Thanks David and Mexitron for the great pics. What an area!!!!
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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David K
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Yah, they are good Lou... these were taken the day after we met Mexitron, Pappy, Huddo, and Taco de Baja in Parral Canyon.
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
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Location: South of the broder
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I remember, David. It was a nice meet there - too bad we didn't have more time to trade "Baja Tales" with them as we did later around the fire.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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synch
Nomad
Posts: 316
Registered: 9-14-2004
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Mood: wandering...
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Drinking water
Those green pools were probably refreshing, but what about drinking water?
Is the standard backpacking filter adequate to prevent the bad stuff from getting consumed?
You had to be drinking tons of water...
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Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas
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No problem with a water filter.....there's some cattle in the area so drinking straight is a little iffy.
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Neal Johns
Super Nomad
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Location: Lytle Creek, CA
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Thanks, David K and Mexitron.
Great pictures not available elsewhere.
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Water safety
Any Western hiker will tell you that "drinking straight" is an invitation to disaster, no matter how clean and clear the water appears.
We have a nasty little thing called Giardia, which is hosted in the small intestine and will graciously attack all kinds of internal organs.
A friend of mine drank nice clear clean sparkling stream water in the Sierras a couple years ago and died 6 months later from this little guy.
Green or clean, always use a filter, no matter how high you think you are in the mountains.
Baja Arriba!!
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Then what did people do before these filters were invented... for a million or so years? Just die after drinking? Junipero Serra (and thousands more)
walked from Loreto to San Francisco drinking from worse water sources than the one you describe (have you seen Yubay or Agua Dulce in dry years?).
I am not diss'ing you Dick, I believe you. But, I am curious... is that Giardia germ something new? Something Saddam mailed us before W stopped that
from potentially happening?
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
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what did people do???
David, there are two answers to that question...
1. Giardia seems to be a fairly recent curse upon our society. It spreads both through human and through animal waste, which explains why it has
moved through the back country like it has.
Yeah, I can remember many, many hikes in Yosemite in the 50's, drinking out of every crick we crossed. Those days are gone.
2. My nephew is a MD/PhD- Chem. doing full time research at Stanford. I ask him questions like you asked about health in the "good old days." Dr.
Joe always grins and says, "Uncle Dickie, back then an old man was 35 or 40, today an old man is 80 or 90 0r 100."
Look up Giardia on Google, it will ruin your day.
Baja Arriba!!
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Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
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Location: Fort Worth, Texas
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You have to consider the source of the water, if lots of cattle are present, and also the amount of human activity. The Sierras are overrun by people
and there is not much topsoil to absorb all the waste--so naturally the bacteria counts will be high.
However, on our trek to the Mission San Pedro Martir I drank right out of the Rio San Antonio, El Horno, and Segundo rivers with no problems(
everybody else filtered their water, except the vaqueros). The source of those rivers is a fairly clean Sierra San Pedro Martir with few
cattle........
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64864
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Location: San Diego County
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Thanks Mexitron... that just proves, for hiking... Baja IS Better!
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
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Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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Barefoot in Chernobyl
You guys are scary!! Sounds like the smoker who knew someone who smoked and did not get cancer so cigs. must be o.k.!
Seriously, this Giardia is serious stuff, and it is not localized to the California Sierras.
Believe what you want, I just hope that others will heed the warning and buy a good filter or use the dreaded iodine pills.
Baja Arriba!!
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Geothermal-Shane
Junior Nomad
Posts: 83
Registered: 5-14-2005
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I was hiking with a friend through a large park in Los Angeles during the heavy winter rains- we came across a small flowing creek that seeped up from
a hole in the ground and he drank the water unfiltered! He never had any problems...y' just don't know. Maybe it was his strong indiginous roots.
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El Camote
Senior Nomad
Posts: 514
Registered: 9-7-2003
Location: Above the clouds
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Mood: y Blues
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Giardia is nothing to mess with. The symptoms don't appear until a week after ingestion and then they hit like gangbusters. Giardia is stored in a
cyst that can go dormant in the winter months and reappear in the spring. Prior to 1970 there was no known cases of Giardia but they believe it has
always existed. Cryptosporidium is another parasite protozoan found in drinking water and is similar to Giardia but much more common and resistant to
chlorine.
There's a great book out called "How To Sh*t In The Woods" - An environmentally sound approach to a lost art by Kathleen Meyer. It graphically
describes how to deal with your poo-poo (sorry, too much time with the baby lately) in the outdoors dependent on soil and climate. Very appropriate
toilet read. I'd give it 4 johnny mops up out of 5.
Speaking of Giardia, I once contracted a horrible travelers disease which makes you feel like you're stuck for an eternity in a New York
airport...it's called LaGuardia! 
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