I'm back a day early everyone! The 12 YO had fun, but he was ready to come home. Anyway, I just wanted to report that I did end up bringing my Sawyer Mini. It wasn't so bad. I was extremely weight and space conscious with almost everything else, and the fact that the weather was so warm really helped. I even managed to stuff, barely, a bulky synthetic bag into the pack instead of lashed to the top (even though I ended up moving it to the top to balance the weight better). So, even with a couple of compromises and carrying an extra days food compared to my February trip to the same area last year, I was hauling about 10 pounds less weight than that trip, about 26 vs 35-37.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Wgiles, I will definitely be looking into that adapter. That's a lot more convenient than using the syringe. And, WD I certainly had no intention of using an uncertain sterilization method. Though I had googled the terms you suggest, I found nothing definitive.

On a side note, the trail was popular this time around, and I'm wondering if I saw any forum members or lurkers? There was a family group of 18 that day hiked in and paced us most of the way. We also saw a man with his dog hammock camping. Finally, we saw a group of three from a distance hammock camping close to the creek at the junction to the Katy Falls spur trail, though we did not speak to them. This was all on the Caney Creek Trail in the Caney Creek Wilderness on Sat 4/15 and Easter Sun 4/16.
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The journey is more important than the destination.