Campground Review

The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is great for backpackers. We camped at Lowney Creek and parked at the Beaver Lake Basin Overlook. It was a 2 mile hike crossing the beautiful Lowney Creek multiple times. The birds were singing on our hike, we saw toads, and the trail is pretty well maintained and very well marked.

Our campsite was right on the shore of Beaver Lake. This offered ample water for filtering. We were able to watch a blue heron catch a fish and were hearing the loons. The lake is beautiful and definitely suitable for swimming. There are 4 campsites at Lowney Creek with a shared fire ring and a shared bear box for food. There is nice large trees for shade, and a couple of the sites are more secluded than the other two. Nearby about .3 mile is the group site.

The backcountry camping was awesome and I would definitely go back.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time, this time I got to test the Renogy Water Filter pump.

It is a functional pump that works, but isn't all the easy to use, especially by yourself. I found that having at least one person to assist by holding the clean water bottle and to make sure the water inlet hose stays in place. It went even better with three people. Unfortunately for me, this isn't great. 

What I like

• The flow rate was good. I haven't used it enough to have to back flush, but it's nice they include a syringe to extend the life via back flushing.
• It is compact. I have some friends with Katadyn filters and those are no better at filtering, but they are much bulkier.
• It comes with a bag for all the hoses and the filter.

What I don't like

• The hoses work, but seem low quality. They aren't smooth, but overly rubbery, so stuff sticks to them.
• To store, you have to remove both hoses
• It is cumbersome to operate
• The carbon filter probably improves taste slightly, but you'd have to buy replacements. My Sawyer filtered water tastes fine to me.

Overall, a functional filter that works as well as a filter of this design could work. I'd probably recommend a Sawyer Squeeze before this one though.