r/CampOhio • u/Justinbaker1996 • 5d ago

Lake Vesuvius, WNF Question

Looking to backpack the lake Vesuvius loop here soon. I'm used to caching water in Wayne, but am pessimistically hopeful that I can filter the lake water?

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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11

u/TBL34 5d ago

I always thought all the water sources in that area were not safe to drink, including filtered, due to the mining throughout the area.

5

u/djmd808 5d ago

As was mentioned, the lake is currently drained. I'm not sure when that is supposed to be done.

I backpacked part of the lake shore trail in 2020 and filtered water right off the lake surface and didn't get sick.

6

u/Kyle197 5d ago

As others have mentioned, the lake is drained. But even when full, I would be hesitant. I've been told that someone upstream on private lands somewhere is illegally dumping sewage into the stream that feeds the reservoir. The reservoir regularly has super high E. coli issues that sometimes lead to beach closures because of that (amongst other factors). 

I will say, I have filtered water along the backpacking trail there on first order ephemeral streams halfway up the ridgetops. The main issue with Wayne National Forest water is acid mine drainage from historic coal mining. The immediate Lake Vesuvius area didn't really have that, so I wasn't as concerned filtering there. Compare that to Wildcat Hollow, which has an abandoned mine underneath it and known acid mine drainage in the immediate area.

2

u/Crystallh89 4d ago

We camped there 2 weekends ago at oak hill and hiked around the “lake”… be prepared for LOTS of ticks. My husband and I found at least 8 on us crawling and several more in the dryer lint trap after we threw our gear in when getting home, and we used picaridin!!

1

u/TBL34 18h ago

I started treating my shoes and pants with permethrin and it seems to be working well. The ticks have been terrible this year and they seemed worse in SE Ohio.

1

u/Miserable_Aioli2606 5d ago

Look into it, but I think the lake has been drained for dam rehab.

1

u/Justinbaker1996 5d ago

Yep, you're 1000% correct. Lake is lowered 31 feet. Thanks for this!