Pure mountain water

 


Anyone who has experienced the physical discomforts that sometimes afflict travelers, called by colorful nicknames such as "Montezuma's revenge" or "Delhi belly," can appreciate the blessing of something we normally very much take for granted: clean water.

We all know water is essential to life. But most of us don't know what it's like to be thirsty - really thirsty, desperately thirsty. I've had a few experiences while hiking when, due to unexpected circumstances or (early on) lack of adequate preparation, I've ended up without sufficient water. On more than one occasion I was "saved" by being able to find a natural source of water.

I have learned to love clear, pure, natural mountain water. Perhaps it's mostly symbolic, but there are places I visit specifically so I can drink deeply from the cool fresh water of a mountain spring. (My hiking friends will all recognize the one in the attached photo.)

Back at home, it's a wonder to trust that I can open a faucet or tap and know that what comes out, having been routed to my home from up in those mountains, is potable and safe. I can't always say that when I travel in other areas.

Twenty years after Brigham Young brought the early settlers to the Wasatch Front, he taught them: "It is difficult to find anything more healthy to drink than good cold water, such as flows down to us from springs and snows of our mountains. This is the beverage we should drink. It should be our drink at all times." (Tooele City, August 17, 1867; see JD 12:122) Great advice.

I #GiveThanks for water, pure clean living water, and for the privilege of living in a place and time when it's so easily accessible.

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