WATER NEWS-YOU CAN USE... CAMPING, HIKING & MORE

Until Tahoe... A Customer's Perspective

A few years ago, my brother and I relocated to California. He went to Sacramento; I settled outside Los Angeles. We often met in places in between or even traveled back east to camp. On such excursions, we would often collect together a group of friends; sometimes we were many, other times just a few. But always we camped in campgrounds. Some sites were more basic than others - no bathrooms, no showers. And if there were no water pump at the site, it meant there was a store just around the corner.

Until Tahoe.

One late night at a particularly posh campground, long after taking cold showers and sipping warm water from the taps, while sitting around the fire ring, seven of us decided we'd had enough pampering. We were sick of stinking restrooms, crowded nature trails, tourists, and shaving. The closest thing to wild animals we'd seen all weekend was a crow and someone's lost dog. We'd had enough. We decided to hit the backcountry. And so, later that summer, we gathered in Tahoe, California. Early on a Friday morning, as we stood in the lot where we would abandon our vehicles, we stared up at our first climb. Seven determined young men and women, six of the seven backpacks newly purchased or borrowed, three tents, food, one map, one compass, no trails, and one water purifier. For the next four days and three nights, we climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and traversed valleys. We traveled through the heat even as we crossed snow drifts. We hiked and camped near rivers, streams, lakes, and waterfalls, taking every opportunity to use our water purifier to refill our ever draining water bottles. The water flow was endless.

So was our thirst.

Over the next few changing days, we seven worked as a team, helping those who slowed as we crossed rock slides and headed for the next ridge. We ate dried fruit, energy bars, and freeze dried meals. We were thankful for each other and thankful to be alive. And always, we were thankful for our "First Need Deluxe" water purifier. It refilled our bottles as fast as we could pump it. It provided us with fresh, cold water directly from nature itself. It quenched our thirst when we needed it most. It helped us survive four days that none of us will ever forget.

And even though we'd bought it in northern California, my brother and I weren't the least surprised to discover that our water purifier had been made in the same town where we grew up, our hometown, of Exton, Pennsylvania.

Thanks, General Ecology

Sean Foy

Filmmaker / Photographer