Photo by Bekah Wright

Look over there. On the right, at the top of that mountain in Utah's Snow Canyon State Park. See that dark rock at the tippy top. That's Hidden Pinyon. And yep, I hiked there alongside John Cymore from Red Mountain Resort.

John was carrying a CamelBak pack. He'd stowed a non-CamelBak water bottle for me in one of the pockets. Somehow, a leak in my bottle resulted in his pants getting, well, soggy. He was a great sport about it. Even shared his water with me. As you can tell from the photo above, it was a bit arid during our hike. You'll be hearing all about that in another post soon.

What I wanted to talk about today, though, was something new CamelBak just turned me on to.

Let's start with these...

Photo by Bekah Wright

As you can see, I'm a bit obsessed with CamelBak's Podium water bottles. They're insulated, don't "sweat," and come in various sizes. Pretty sure I squealed when I found the largest of the three.

Starting this weekend, there will be a new section on this site devoted to training for a special hiking tour. My CamelBak Podiums will be making an appearance, so I emailed the company to give them a heads-up, just to make sure featuring the product wouldn't be causing any copyright issues, etc.

I received a response from their marketing manager, Seth Beiden. His response, "Sure thing and thanks for asking. Another key piece of travel gear is this All Clear water purifier. Image attached and information here."

Image courtesy of CamelBak

LOVE IT! In fact, wish I'd had one for a hike on Moloka‘i recently (more on that in post down the road, too).

The scoop behind the CamelBak All Clear™ UV purification system: "All Clear uses proven UV technology that turns any tap or clear natural water into potable drinking water in just 60 seconds. Fast, effective and backed by our Got Your Bak™ Lifetime Guarantee, CamelBak All Clear maximizes UV exposure for drinking water you can trust."

Yes, Halawa Valley creeks would have been ideal for experimenting with this. Just heard about a waterfall in Altadena that would do the trick, too...

How it works: "CamelBak All Clear turns nearly any tap or clear natural water source into potable drinking water in just 60 seconds, letting you hydrate on the spot. And since CamelBak All Clear is a water bottle as well as a purification system, you can enjoy your water right after treatment or carry it with you. Rechargeable lithium ion batteries (included) deliver 80+ cycles on a single charge so you know you'll have drinkable water day after day when you're on the trail."

Here's a video that should fill in with further factoids:

I don't have a CamelBak All Clear at the moment, but it's definitely on my list of items to gather for the 100-mile trek I'll be writing about starting this weekend.

If you happen to have an All Clear, give us a shout-out and let us know where you've used it.

In the meantime, you can learn more about it here: http://www.camelbak.com/allclear.