Carrigain well

Does anyone know if there is still water available near the summit of Carrigain? The AMC Guide mentions a well near the site of the old firewarden's cabin. Is this well easy to find and available?

The well is very obvious at the old cabin clearing. As of earlier this summer, it had been upgraded compared to past years with a cover. The amount of water is highly depdendent upon the amount of rain in the last few days and the amount of dew that forms on the summit. It is far above any water table. If there is water, it will have to be treated as there is a lot of camping going on upslope of the water supply with no outhouse. The times I have looked at the water in the well, it has not looked very clear, which probably means a lot of fine suspended organics which can plug a filter quickly.

I looked at it a few years ago before the cover and I would consider it to be less potable than most surface water. It doesn't move and anything that falls or is thrown in there would stay there a very long time. I wouldn't put my filter to that tough a test unless it was an bona fide emergency.

To be blunt I would not use that as a water source even filtered or boiled or chemically treated. Carry plenty of water on signal ridge trail if it is a hot day. There aren't many, I remember one, barely usable place to get water on the trail higher up.

Keith

In the past it had been used occasionally as a privy, so I would definitely treat any water I took from it.

Older guidebooks used to describe the well water as "not potable".

I have no idea if it has been cleaned up or how good it might be after treatment.

Doug

Ten days ago there was ample water, but you need a long arm and a pot to reach way down to get to it. There's a plastic jug with the top cut off that serves as a dipper, tied to a rope, but the rope isn't long enough to reach the water below. I suppose you could cut the rope.
The well has a wooden cover with a handle, so at the very least leaves and stuff are kept out... but I would treat or boil the water.
I brought several quarts up, filtered some, and boiled some for coffee. Haven't had any ill effects so far....

As Mr. Metsky said, about half the hikers think it's a well and the other half think it's a toilet. I would avoid it.

David Metsky said:

In the past it had been used occasionally as a privy, so I would definitely treat any water I took from it.

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UGH! Say no more! We'll carry plenty of water with us-thanks!

I filtered and drank a bunch about a month ago and I was fine. It looked good; clear and had no floaties (technical wastewater term). No problems with filter clogging.
Bob

The Rabbit

This WELL has been discussed before in other threads. I think I may have mentioned this before in one of those threads...the Forest Service definitely had the Well closed at one point because a dead Rabbit was found in the well. It was quite some time ago but that has always kept me from drinking there.

REK said:

I filtered and drank a bunch about a month ago and I was fine. It looked good; clear and had no floaties (technical wastewater term). No problems with filter clogging.
Bob

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Not to put too fine a point on this but you surviving drinking the water from that well is no guarantee that anyone else would be fine. Many people get all kinds of bugs and show no ill effects (asymptomatic). Some never do and some it takes years depending on the cyst, virus or bacteria. As an example Hepatitis A is a virus that can take weeks or longer to show any symptoms and is easily transfered by the oral-fecal route and is not easily filtered.

I am glad you and your filter survived but people can get and pass on lots of nasties and some take a long time to discover and in the meantime you might not have any ill effects. Your filter not clogging could just mean that it lets very large items though. Again, I don't know what filter you used and I am not saying you are not fine it’s just that your state of health, so far, doesn't guarantee anyone else’s. Many people also wind up showing no ill effects their whole life and are just carriers and transfer these nasties everywhere they go with bugs like Giardia and Cryptosporidium.

And again, I am not trying to start a panic and I am certainly not wishing you ill. But personally, I would stay away from any non-moving ground surface water that is collected like that except in the most dire emergency.

Keith

We personally visited the well yesterday. The top of the well has a removable lid which is posted with a "Non-Potable Water" sign. The water was easily reached with the jug/rope apparatus. The water appeared clean and clear without any stagnation. My boyfriend drank a quart that he treated with iodine. I'll report back if he suffers any ill effects from this. My son and I remembered the posting about the well being used as a latrine and stuck to our Gatorade instead.

wardsgirl said:

My son and I remembered the posting about the well being used as a latrine and stuck to our Gatorade instead.

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David Metsky said:

In the past it had been used occasionally as a privy, so I would definitely treat any water I took from it.

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You know, people can be weird and disgusting but I figured that the relative isolation Carrigain provides might prevent against this sort of thing from happening. Not every weirdo hikes Carrigain. So, someone walks all the way up and takes a dump in the well when there's nice woods all around!?

Is the evidence for this circumstantial or has anyone actually witnessed some cretin doing it in the well?

-Dr. Wu

wardsgirl said:

We personally visited the well yesterday. The top of the well has a removable lid which is posted with a "Non-Potable Water" sign. The water was easily reached with the jug/rope apparatus. The water appeared clean and clear without any stagnation. My boyfriend drank a quart that he treated with iodine. I'll report back if he suffers any ill effects from this. My son and I remembered the posting about the well being used as a latrine and stuck to our Gatorade instead.

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I am unsure what would possess someone to drink from a surface water well that has been deemed non-potable by the authorities. Not all bugs are killed by iodine even after 2 hour contact time and not all dangerous things in the water are bugs. There are also chemical dangers like lead, mercury, cyanide, arsenic just to mention a few. Since there is nothing stating what it was that makes the well non-potable I am unsure why anyone with common sense would use it.

Of course your boyfriend’s mileage may vary. He may have researched the hell out of this and has everything figured out. I may just be overreacting.

Keith

SAR-EMT40 said:

I am unsure what would possess someone to drink from a surface water well that has been deemed non-potable by the authorities. Not all bugs are killed by iodine even after 2 hour contact time and not all dangerous things in the water are bugs. There are also chemical dangers like lead, mercury, cyanide, arsenic just to mention a few. Since there is nothing stating what it was that makes the well non-potable I am unsure why anyone with common sense would use it.

Of course your boyfriend’s mileage may vary. He may have researched the hell out of this and has everything figured out. I may just be overreacting.

Keith

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Many people go light when they hike bringing only the absolute necessities. All too frequently, "common sense" isn't considered a necessity.

NH_Mtn_Hiker said:

Many people go light when they hike bringing only the absolute necessities. All too frequently, "common sense" isn't considered a necessity.

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Must be too heavy...

Doug

Common sense would seem to dictate that if the water were truly hazardous, the well would be sealed shut. As for the boyfriend, he has several thousand miles of backpacking experience and has been hiking in the Whites for 30+ years. So far, he looks ok...

dr_wu002 said:

Is the evidence for this circumstantial or has anyone actually witnessed some cretin doing it in the well?

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There was a thread about this a long time ago, maybe on the old outdoors board where I posted about the use of the well as a privy. I heard rumors about it before I believed it myself. I have seen physical evidence twice, but never caught anyone "in the act". I found wads of toilet paper and feces strewn about the small clearing right next to the well and on the old metal cap around 1996 and then again in 2006 after the new wooden cover was put in place.

Even if not directly in the well itself, finding that kind of evidence within 100 feet, let alone on the well cover itself, should be enough to know that the well isn't being respected as a water source. It's too bad. It's a nicely constructed well and I could have used the water on more than one occasion.

iodine flavored water...Ymmm.
With all the warnings noted, why not just pack-in a little extra water?

wardsgirl said:

UGH! Say no more! We'll carry plenty of water with us-thanks!

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Say no more... Case closed.