Getting Water

“Getting water when you are backpacking is a necessity. It really does not matter if you like getting water. Some folks bring iodine tablets, and others being water filters, but everyone has to go get water. Somewhere in the process of talking to John, the two boy scouts decided going to get water was a better way to spend their time. As I made my way down to the spring, one boy laughed, while the other one was looking around excitedly.


“Where did it go?”


“I don’t have any idea, did you see it? Dad is going to kill us.”


Did you happen to know that if you use a PURTM water filter without a collection bottle that it makes a pretty good squirt gun? The two boys had managed to find this out, but unfortunately some piece that was attached to the water filter had went careening off as they pumped down on the handle.


“The little blue thing, I can’t find it.”


I had gotten about halfway done with my own water collecting when George showed up to see how the boys were doing. His eyes drifted down to where the red plastic storage bag lay on the ground, muddy and wet.


“Boys? Is this the bag my water purifier goes in?”


The boys looked over at the bag, completely forgotten in the process of trying to find the lost little blue thing that had disappeared. They just nodded their heads, knowing the worst was still coming.


“Boys? Can you tell me where the blue plastic cover went? That slides over this tube?”


I do a lot of things when I meet people. Sometimes I compare folks to other friends I know someplace else. Sometimes I try to figure out what someone does or is like, when they are not here. I realized this was not the time to do any of these. George and the boys needed a little quality time, together.

Alone.”

“Roger That.

Thankfully sound doesn't carry all the far in the forest.”

“Another great thing about the forest is that it's so easy to pick a switch.

Disclaimer: the intention of the comment above was comedic in nature and in no way intended to degrade the thread into a heated discussion about corporal punishment. Although the author has extensive experience in the area of corporal punishment and "switch picking" it was entirely on the receiving end. The author no longer condones "switch picking" for a few reasons: he marrried a liberal, he just had his first child and can't imagine hurting her and he figures you can just take away their GameBoy and inflict as much damage.”

“There's really no way to pick a 'good switch' anyway; the small ones hurt twice as much. I can still here the sound of a thin switch whistling through the air, can't you?”

“Big coop: LOL!! All these disclaimers lately.. heh..

Yeah, the story is memorable also, because once Dad came back up to the shelter, he decided since the boys didn't treasure the value of clear spring water, he would just let them drink IODINE the rest of the trip.

:) Figured it would teach them a lesson.”

“My friend took his two teenage boys on a trip where they had to carry all of their water (no springs). He was less than pleased when caught them having a water fight many miles from the trail head.”

“Skully was there at this one, and will remember it. Dad got his iodine from her.”

“I had that happen in my troop.....once.

It wasn't very pleasant in hot weather drinking boiled and iodine treated water.

Mistreat the equipment, miss the equipment.”

“He didn't get his iodine from me. He already had some with him for backup. It was someone else on the trail without water treatment that I gave my iodine to on that trip.”

“oh, I was thinking it was that one skully!.. but you remember the incident.. poor guys.. they were in deep doodoo.”