[pct-l] Giardia Myth... or truth?

[AsABat]

Remember that Bob's article
(http://www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm) is about water in the
Sierra Nevada and not about water in, say, Soledad Canyon. Also, giardia
is only one of the nasties in water, others including cryptosporidium
and e-Coli. 

Personally, I vary my water treatment depending on where I'm going. I
have drunk water untreated from a Sierra stream with Bob. Usually I
carry a small in-line filter and/or Aqua Mira in most areas where there
may be suspect water. In areas where water is less reliable, or in late
season when water is drying up, I do carry a pump. This is mostly
because I prefer drinking clear water rather than green-yellow water
with lots of things floating in it. 

For example, at Summit Lake last year (near Gold Lake - Section M) I
stopped for dinner. It was impossible to get water out of that very
shallow lake without stirring up the sediment on the bottom. If I had
brought a pump filter I could easily have pumped all the water I needed.
As it was, I got enough to cook dinner, then pushed on to Jamison Creek
for the night where I could refill with clean stream water.

YMMV,
AsABat