sproul state forest

[bushwacker]

noticed many circular clearings throughout sproul on google map while researching streams. many appear to have man made cylinders light blue in color. Any one know what these are?

 

[Swattie87]

Gas wells.

 

[Mwheaps32]

There's a lifetime of streams to explore in Sproul

 

[troutbert]

Yep, gas wells.

The smaller sites that are irregular to roundish are conventional shallow gas wells.

The much larger (5 acre) sites that are rectangular are Marcellus gas well sites.

And they are not just in Sproul. There are many in other areas also.

 

[bushwacker]

so, if i camped the night could i drink the water from a class a sproul stream if i boiled it? the proximity of those gas wells makes me nervous.

 

[raftman]

I'd be fine with drinking boiled/treated water from a class a stream.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

bushwacker wrote:
so, if i camped the night could i drink the water from a class a sproul stream if i boiled it? the proximity of those gas wells makes me nervous.

Bushwacker there have been very few cases of natural gas drilling impacting drinking water aquifers to this point. The legacy impacts from conventional oil and gas wells in some locales have significantly impacted aquifers in some areas, watrous along pine creek would be one. Specifically regarding drinking water from a class a stream in the Sproul your most likely contaminants would be bacteria and you will take care of that by boiling.

 

[wildtrout2]

raftman wrote:
I'd be fine with drinking boiled/treated water from a class a stream.

Me too. I've been doing it for 30+ years without boiling it and have had no issues. Drink from quickly moving water, not stagnant.

 

[raftman]

Me too. I've been doing it for 30+ years without boiling it and have had no issues. Drink from quickly moving water, not stagnant.

Man, good for you. I did the same thing when I lived in Baxter State Park, Maine. I'd drink out of water coming from a spring on the side Katahdin on my hike to "work", figured it had to be pretty darn clean. I ended up with a bad case of, as they called it up there - Beavah Fevah and had to get some hardcore antibiotics to clear it out. From there on out, I always treat my water.

 

[Swattie87]

wildtrout2 wrote:
Me too. I've been doing it for 30+ years without boiling it and have had no issues. Drink from quickly moving water, not stagnant.

You mean filtering or chemical treating, but not boiling correct? If so, then yeah, I carry a small pump filter with me on backpacking trips or long day hikes where I don't want to carry water weight. I've never had issues using that. I don't boil the water or chemical treat it too if I use the filter.

If you've been drinking straight from the stream for 30 years without filtering, treating, or boiling, it's likely your gut is naturally more immune to common water bacteria and/or you've developed immunities over time. I think many folks would stand a good chance of getting sick like raftman did without boiling/filtering/treating.

 

[Dave_W]

wildtrout2 wrote:
Me too. I've been doing it for 30+ years without boiling it and have had no issues. Drink from quickly moving water, not stagnant.

Wow.
I thought I was a big risk taker by wet wading.

 

[wildtrout2]

Swattie87 wrote:
If you've been drinking straight from the stream for 30 years without filtering, treating, or boiling, it's likely your gut is naturally more immune to common water bacteria and/or you've developed immunities over time. I think many folks would stand a good chance of getting sick like raftman did without boiling/filtering/treating.

Yep, unfiltered. Like I mentioned, I always make sure it's swiftly moving water, but your immunity theory might hold some water. ;-)

 

[salmonoid]

raftman wrote:

Me too. I've been doing it for 30+ years without boiling it and have had no issues. Drink from quickly moving water, not stagnant.

Man, good for you. I did the same thing when I lived in Baxter State Park, Maine. I'd drink out of water coming from a spring on the side Katahdin on my hike to "work", figured it had to be pretty darn clean. I ended up with a bad case of, as they called it up there - Beavah Fevah and had to get some hardcore antibiotics to clear it out. From there on out, I always treat my water.

Giardia is a parasitic organism, not a bacteria, so it might not have been antibiotics they treated you with . But I guess you can kill little bugs with antibiotics too.

For the first twenty something years of my life, I drank straight from streams. Never had a bout of anything affect me that I know, but I switched over to using a water filter at some point. They're a heck of a lot cheaper than dealing with lost time due to illness. I still try to pull my water from the smallest stream of flowing water I can, less chance of oh, say, a dead deer being caught in a rootball upstream from your campsite.

 

[NewSal]

I bought a lifestraw and use it to drink out of rivers all the time. Just got it a few months ago but I haven’t been sick yet.

 

[poopdeck]

I won't drink creek water regardless if it's boiled, chemically treated or sucked though a straw. I might think about it if I was out for longer then a couple days but otherwise I'll carry the water. To drink creek water for a day of fishing is kind of amusing.

Properly hydrate before you go out. Carry a Quart or two if you think your really going to need it and have some in the car when you get back. Are you guys seriously drinking more then a quart of water in a day of fishing? Two quarts of creek water? Your not going to die or get sick from not drinking an extra quart. Can't say the same when drinking from the creek.

 

[salmonoid]

poopdeck wrote:
I won't drink creek water regardless if it's boiled, chemically treated or sucked though a straw. I might think about it if I was out for longer then a couple days but otherwise I'll carry the water. To drink creek water for a day of fishing is kind of amusing.

Properly hydrate before you go out. Carry a Quart or two if you think your really going to need it and have some in the car when you get back. Are you guys seriously drinking more then a quart of water in a day of fishing? Two quarts of creek water? Your not going to die or get sick from not drinking an extra quart. Can't say the same when drinking from the creek.

That's great if you choose to be dehydrated. After realizing the detrimental affects of not eating or drinking enough streamside, I altered my ways and have much more enjoyable days because of it. Headache reduction, cramp reduction, fatigue reduction. None of those has killed me, but you sure end the day miserable.

For a multiple day trip, your suggestion to just carry it is not practical. At eight pounds to the gallon, I'll save the liquid weight and happily carry a filter, pump when needed and consume as much water as I want, and then a bit more, since my body probably needs it.

40oz in the water bottle for tomorrow, plus 3 aluminum cans of 355mL each.

Do you drink city water? Well water? Or bottled?

 

[bradtheflyfisherman]

I carry a a full Nalgene which will last me a half day (I'm young and rarely get thirsty as I just drink a lot of water in general) but I carry a life straw in the bottom of my pack just in case...thankfully haven't had to use it yet.

I prefer having to take those complicated pisses where half of it splashes in my waders, and the other half ends up in the woods versus getting any cramps from dehydration though...

 

[Swattie87]

Most times for a day trip, I'll just carry the water. Not worth the hassle of sanitizing my pump filter when I get home. In Summer, I'll carry two quarts, and plan to drink it all throughout the day. I usually try to reserve the last 16 oz or so for the hike back to my vehicle, but ideally I'll be out, or nearly out of water when I get back. Keep in mind, a full day small stream outing for me may involve a 5 mile each way hike. Even when drinking the 2 qts though, I'm often thirsty when I get back to my vehicle...a sure sign that I'm dehydrated. I have more water, and usually a Coke back at the car in case of a dehydration headache. I used to get them all the time when I only carried one quart of water/day on hot days. Not fun to drive a couple hours home tired with a headache like that. I'm trying to do better about the pre-hydration thing too...I've been trying to force myself to drink another quart in the car on the drive to the stream for a long day hike outing.

For shorter hikes, fishing bigger streams where I'll have access to my vehicle throughout the day, or day trips during the cooler months where I'll consume less water, I'll carry less.

For anything that involves an overnight camp, I just carry my pump filter and a one quart vessel and drink and fill as needed. Truth be told, on longer Summer day hikes, it's probably smarter to just carry the filter all the time. If you're fishing (and therefore always near water), you realistically have an endless supply to drink and there should be no real risk of dehydration. If a long day hike turned into an overnighter for some unforeseen reason, you'd still be able to drink that way.

My filter is a larger volume pump filter, but I may buy a Lifestraw or Sawyer Mini to keep in my pack all the time just in case...That's a good idea brad.

 

[poopdeck]

salmonoid wrote:

That's great if you choose to be dehydrated. After realizing the detrimental affects of not eating or drinking enough streamside, I altered my ways and have much more enjoyable days because of it. Headache reduction, cramp reduction, fatigue reduction. None of those has killed me, but you sure end the day miserable.

For a multiple day trip, your suggestion to just carry it is not practical. At eight pounds to the gallon, I'll save the liquid weight and happily carry a filter, pump when needed and consume as much water as I want, and then a bit more, since my body probably needs it.

40oz in the water bottle for tomorrow, plus 3 aluminum cans of 355mL each.

Do you drink city water? Well water? Or bottled?

Bottled water. Can't get past the clorine smell of city water. Your missing the point which is properly hydrate before you go. This means drinking lots of water the night before. No soda, ice tea, coffee, just plain water. If you get dehydrated it's because of what you drank or didn't drink the night before not because of what you drank while you were out. If your dehydrated you ain't hydrating yourself anytime soon by drinking from the creek. Proper Hydration is a lengthy process. If properly hydrated you need minimal water to get through the day and back to your truck with no headache. I've long since stopped overnight hiking/camping/fishing trips and I suspect that 99% of anglers don't venture into the wild for any longer then a day trip.

Again, I'm not drinking chemically treated water no way no how. I'm not drinking boiled creeek water or something sucked thru a straw loaded with god knows what. It's way easier to hydrate before leaving and then drink minimal water to maintain or closely maintain. I would venture a guess that some people are never properly hydrated to begin with when their not fishing,

 

[poopdeck]

Geez I forgot the biggest one. Alcohol! No beer no wine no brandy the day before. In fact if you had alcohol a few or so days prior your already behind the eight ball.