The DRY sierra

[balzaccom]

On our last trip into the eastern High Sierra, we found ourselves camped at a lovely lake at about 10,000 feet that had all the amenities, minus one: the water in the lake wasn't as crystal clear as we'd come to expect.

And since we were using a filter to pump our water, we've learned that sediment or algae in the water can plug up the filter, and make pumping more difficult or even impossible. So we pre-filtered by putting the water through one of our bandanas first, and then pumping it through the filter. This is a great system, and gives you a much longer life on your filters.

So we pumped away about 6 p.m. in the evening, and then hung the soaking wet bandana up to dry in the sun. An hour later, we realized that we needed more water for the morning, and grabbed that bandana. It was bone dry.

We pumped away, and then put the bandana back up on the log to dry again. By the time it was getting dark, about 8:15, the bandana was dry again.

Not a lot of humidity up there.

[dan]

I noticed the same thing backpacking out of Onion Valley into Kings Canyon National Park and the JMT. I would rinse a shirt, hang it to dry in the evening. Usually it's dry by morning, but this time it was time a few hours later before it was even dark.

[balzaccom]

And with my official USN khaki short-sleeved dress shirt, it even looks wrinkle free the minute I put it on!

That's style!