View Full Version : Laurel Falls
Gypsy"04"
06-08-2006, 00:20
Whatever you do, don't drink untreated water from Laurel Falls, as it has Giardia in it. I made a stupid mistake while slacking last month to Watauga Lake and didn't have my filter with me. Needless to say, I got very sick.
Won't do that again.
fiddlehead
06-09-2006, 00:26
I rarely drink water from such a big stream although of course i have in dire times. That's why i carry chlorox bleach along with me.
You'll probably be ok next time now that you've been exposed to giardia.
I only ever got it once as have many others i know. ( I even drink the water in Nepal anymore. )
yeah your body should fight off anymore exposure to it, but truly i have never heard of anyone getting it from a fast moving stream, are you sure you got your water there?
icemanat95
06-09-2006, 10:36
You are MORE likely to get it from fast moving waters as the cysts get mixed in by the turbulence. In slower waters. so long as you dip from the surface, the cysts and other suspended materials tend to settle out and move along the bottom of the water.
I got sick shortly after drinking water from Laurel Falls and then subsequently Wautauga Lake (the spigot there). I got VERY sick, very fast. I went from feeling fine as I walked into Damascus, to being flat on my back (or running to the bathroom) unsure of which end needed to be hanging over the toilet first. Really unpleasant.
greentick
06-09-2006, 10:57
You'll probably be ok next time now that you've been exposed to giardia.
( I even drink the water in Nepal anymore. )
I don't think that exposure to Giardia gives you an immunity and could not find anything to that effect in a couple of medical texts. It is an intestinal parasite that can be reacquired. Not a virus. I have also been an unfortunate host to it as well as others. Treat your water or depend on luck and possibly suffer the consequences.
Lone Wolf
06-09-2006, 11:02
I've been "lucky" 20 years. I don't treat or filter any water.:)
I've been "lucky" 20 years. I don't treat or filter any water.:)no wonder you're always right.......
Ah, I'd never drink a drop unfiltered!
Gypsy"04"
07-11-2006, 01:30
I had a major lapse in judgement that day, because we were slacking and I only had a small Platy with me. When we went down into the valley to see the falls, I forgot that the river runs alongside the road, and I was the only one to take water from that stream. Nobody else in our group got sick. But I paid dearly. I lost 16 pounds in 4 days, all water. Two treatments later of heavy antibiotics,I might be rid of it. You just never know.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
07-11-2006, 09:02
{{{ Skinny Gypsy }}} Hope you are completely cured.