Drinking from the Crooked River

[slothrop]

At Smith last weekend, I saw a girl fill a water bottle from the river. She showed up where we were climbing and I told her nicely that I'd heard the river was seriously polluted. For a moment, I got the deer-in-the-headlights look, then she said, "Oh, it's just for our dogs."

 

C'mon now, friends don't let friends drink from the Crooked River. All the chemicals on all the fields for miles around get washed into it. Maybe folks working on the trails project this weekend should put up a few signs.

[DirtyHarry]

It tastes like chocolate milk, yum!

[slothrop]

And tingles going down, like Drano.

[Off_White]

Oh, that's revolting, at least you tried. She must not like her dog. That river is also reputed to be a fine source for liver flukes. I watched a bloated cow float down it once.

[Weekend_Climberz]

Damn, that's seriously disturbing. I would think the frothy foam that floats furiously from the flanks of the flow would frighten folks.

[Knottygirl]

NASTY!

[G-spotter]

I would think the frothy foam that floats furiously from the flanks of the flow would frighten folks.

 

Are you an Anglosaxon artist named Aethelred?

[EWolfe]

A few years back I politely informed some Hispanics that were fishing the Crooked that eating anything they caught would be risky business.

[Weekend_Climberz]

Are you an Anglosaxon artist named Aethelred?

 

I would think the one who fills their bottle from the Crooked River would be the one ill-advised.

[G-spotter]

crooked consumption causes cirrhosis, cataracts, cysts, cascadeclimbers.com, cooties, cancer, convulsions, creeping crud, and other conundrums

[Dechristo]

k

[Weekend_Climberz]

k

 

You mean, Ce.

[Dechristo]

Yeah, there's probably cesium in the river, too.

[mountainmatt]

I watched a bloated cow float down it once.

 

I saw that as well, almost made me lose my lunch (into the river...)

[gosolo]

Not that I am advocating the high quality and health effects of drinking the crooked river, but is it really that bad compared to other rivers? I ask this because I have heard about the poor quality for about 10 years; however, if you compare where the Crooked starts and flows, to say the Columbia with seeps of radioactive water coming into it, i'd much prefer to see some climbers dog drinking that....

[archenemy]

Oh, that's revolting, at least you tried. She must not like her dog. That river is also reputed to be a fine source for liver flukes. I watched a bloated cow float down it once.

I was just out for a swim.

 

Not only did she probably not like her dogs, she probably didn't think to sterilize the bottle before filling it with "people water"

[EWolfe]

Not that I am advocating the high quality and health effects of drinking the crooked river, but is it really that bad compared to other rivers? I ask this because I have heard about the poor quality for about 10 years; however, if you compare where the Crooked starts and flows, to say the Columbia with seeps of radioactive water coming into it, i'd much prefer to see some climbers dog drinking that....

 

Mostly agricultural runoff.

[DirtyHarry]

and poor range practices - letting cattle stomp and shit all over the creeks that drain into the Crooked.

[Off_White]

Not only did she probably not like her dogs, she probably didn't think to sterilize the bottle before filling it with "people water"

 

Hey, the germ theory of disease is just a theory!

[Jens]

What about swimming in the crooked river?

 

I've seen it done but have been told it is unwise. What about swimming and keeping your head dry?

[G-spotter]

Better not have any flappers or crack scabs

[archenemy]

What about swimming in the crooked river?

 

I've seen it done but have been told it is unwise. What about swimming and keeping your head dry?

Good plan. Only let the orifices you don't want anymore to get submerged.

[ScottP]

Not that I am advocating the high quality and health effects of drinking the crooked river, but is it really that bad compared to other rivers? I ask this because I have heard about the poor quality for about 10 years; however, if you compare where the Crooked starts and flows, to say the Columbia with seeps of radioactive water coming into it, i'd much prefer to see some climbers dog drinking that....

 

I climbed some hardened mud they call rock climbing in Iowa with my brother in law a few years back at a place called Palisades-Kepler State Park. The climbing itself was mildly depressing, but the Cedar River that cut the banks we were climbing makes the Crooked look like pure alpine goodness. Even the carp couldn't live in this river judging by the multiple cacasses I saw. I am color blind, but even I couldn't miss the orange hue of the water. The smell was that of water coming from a primary water treatment facility. It was pure disgusting. The only saving grace was the awesome marine fossils to be found in the gravel beds lining the river.