Читать книгу Sierra South. Backcountry Trips in California's Sierra Nevada онлайн

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Halogen treatments (iodine, chlorine) are ineffective against cryptosporidium and hard to use properly against giardia—but they are better than no treatment at all. There are chlorine-dioxide water treatments available for backpackers as well as a device that claims to zap the bugs. The chlorine-dioxide treatments reportedly take 30 minutes to kill giardia and four hours to kill cryptosporidia. Consider these treatments as back-up systems—to use only when boiling or filtering isn’t possible; use only as directed.

This may feel cool and refreshing, but it’s advisable to filter or boil water before drinking it.

Hypothermia: Hypothermia refers to subnormal body temperature. More hikers die from hypothermia than from any other single cause. Caused by exposure to cold, often intensified by wet, wind, and weariness, the first symptoms of hypothermia are uncontrollable shivering and imperfect motor coordination. These are rapidly followed by loss of judgment, so that you yourself cannot make the decisions to protect your own life. Death by “exposure” is death by hypothermia.