Once again feeling tired of the pollution and contamination everywhere I go in the California outdoors. Cannot eat much of the native wild fauna, cannot drink untreated water, and must eat wild flora cautiously.

So where in the CONUS is can I drink from a stream or lake, and eat freely of the critters and plants I harvest without courting disaster?

As a broad general rule, you want higher altitudes. They tend to be more remote with fewer people and livestock and relatively more "pristine" I think of places like the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico - there are many similar locations throughout the western US. One that comes to mind, although I have never hiked there, is the Trinity Alps in northern California.

There is a body of opinion that if you are drinking water that is coming from a high snowfield or spring, there is a good chance it is disease free. Also many suspect that many cases of giardia, etc. comes from improper sanitation (infrequent hand washing) rather than from the water itself.

You must weigh this against the official notifications that all uniformly recommend treatment of all water unless it comes from an official faucet which is checked biweekly for fecal coliform, in full conformity with official standards, blah, blah, blah. It is actually rather understandable that the authorities are going to be very cautious about recommending that you scarf up plants, critters, or water without treating for contamination.

Back when I was a young puppy and just learning about the outdoors, we sipped from many a spring, as long as it was relatively distant from habitation. I did this for a good many years, until the concern for giardia arose (late 60's; early 70's) as boomers started getting into the woods.

One thing that may have saved me is my habit of converting water from any source into that best of beverages - a nice cup of tea.

We are all on our own in foregoing water treatment. Like anything else, assess the situation, gather information, and decide.

I know very little about your corner of the world, but there are tons of places like that here in Alabama.

There is bound to be plenty of unspoilt wilderness areas in the CONUS (its a huge country).

To make you feel better why not take the google maps virtual road trip from Invervar (drop the little man here) to Bridge of Balgay via Camusvrachan in Glen Lyon. OK its not anywhere near the CONUS but it should cheer you up.

I'm not entirely convinced that there was ever a time and place when you could step out into the woods and indescriminatly scarf down any food or water you kind. Giardia, otherwise known as beaver fever, which tels you one of the natural carriers, was widespread in wilderness areas. The real difference was that most humans back before the 1900s had imunity to giardia becuase it was ever present in their water.

Similarly, most people had some exposure to cholera and other common bugs that were common to untreated water. Limited exposure afforded tham a degree of resistance, if not outright immunity. Only when exposure exceeded incidental levels did cholera and many other diseases become active.

What people are missing is that many of the common diseases and germs are present in small amounts in soil or populations. Anthrax is endemic to much of the southwestern US. The difference between the natural occurence in soil and an ooutbreak is degree of exposure and readiness of the germs to be infectious because they somehow gained the upper hand in the environnment.

Hey D! Pismo Clams are still edible,Sea Fish(Except maybe Tom Cod),Frog Legs,Crawdads,Rainbows,German-Browns,Dove,Quail,Snakes,Bugs,Rabbits,Beaver,Deer,Bear,etc. They are ALL Edible! You Just have to Find them! If You worry So Much,From What you have Researched,or Heard then,Then Why even Try? It's Riskier to Drive to The Boonies,Then it is to Eat from The Boonies,Don't you Think?I personally have NO Problems drinking from Certain Springs/Streams,If they are High up,or Desolate Areas! I'm still here! There will alway's be a Contrary,That doesn't mean You Can't step around it!No Worries!Except for Bear,I've eaten All of the above in The last 5 yrs to 2 weeks ago,& I've Thoroughly Enjoyed it!You can't Win,If You don't play! Hang In There,Man!

Every place has it's STOBOR!!!

in my neck of the woods it looks like this.....


the world class canoe country in Northern Minnesota and only a few hours north by car,several days by paddle and portage to reach a lake like this.gin clear water and few people around.when you look at one of those maps of the USA that show the country at night this is one of the dark spots.my East Coast friends who come along every few years did not want to try some of the Small Mouth Bass they caught because of the taste they are used to.i cooked a couple on a hot rock and they thought it was about the best fish they ever had,no crud in the water i said.i have taken my drinking water right out of the lakes for 25+ years with no ill effects and the air is so clear it's a tonic to breath.entry is by permit but they are cheap and %99 of the other people you might run into are happy and mellow,the fisher folk do get a little worked up about finding hot spots.the gear you see is for a two week solo,if i added a big bag of flour and a can of lard i could winter over.



a lunch break out on some big water.

That counts as, one!

How long is the non-Winter portion of the program there?

Thanks [and hoping to learn of more candidates]!

I would also recommend northern Alabama. The demographics are such that a best friend just retired up there from Houston.

Northern Mississippi has much to offer as well.

Lousy-anna, north of I-20 and Arkansas is worth looking at closely as well.