Whats this again, a Backpack you say?

“Well, it's been close to two years since I last backpacked. I went' and proposed to my wife on a trail, and that is the last time I saw one. In the year enagagement and year we have been married we have been going non stop with wedding planning, or moving into a new house. We snuck in a car camping trip here and there - but are just now getting our first backpacking trip in a while.

Now I am no expert - We had gotten our gear and backpacked a few times before the proposal, so I am still a newbie.

My question is this:
We had purchased a new water filter system just before our last trip - we used it for 2 days and when we got home, flushed it with water and then flushed it with water mixed with a few drops of bleach.

My question is after 2 years of sitting there - do I need to replace the filter? I will be hiking Panther Creek Trail in the N. Ga mountains this weekend and would prefer to just filter the stream.

Thanks in advance for any advice.”

“I would give it a good cleaning and run some bleach water through it and it should be fine.”

“unless its all gunky and gross looking lz gives good advice.”

“Take it apart and wet it.
Replace the filter if it smells bad.”

“just be sure its unscented bleach. You don't want a lemonfresh filter.”

“ROFL a Lemonfresh Filer.

"No Honey - I have no idea why that bear keeps following us".

Thanks for the help guys. I appreciate the advice.”