[pct-l] How much water????

[ed faubert]

Some wise advice finaly about the disagreement regarding water in So Cal. As the "giver" oraly of Asabats water report at ADZ i can say that water is the single most inportant talk we give to new hikers. The repost does indeed change year to year and when we are in the process of giving thir report we often times have hikers who are a few weeks into the hike who come back to the KO. With their first hand knowledge we rewrite the report that same day so it is up to the moment.
The comment below about where your from in the country vrs So Cal can be a major factor for hikers and as long time lurkers here have said who have hiked section A  2 or more times it can change 100% each time. A feller was heloed 10 miles into his hike cause it was a dry year and back a few years ago there was well over a dozen places to get water and someone even fell into Hauser Creek which for many of you was about bone dry.
 
So when someone says 6/8 liters of water is a must and you get there it could be raining or as we are hoping to have a really wet winter, too much water, specialy if your from Tuson...Remember too you go by a PO in MT. Laguna and another in Warner Springs so you can carry only what you need for a few days. You also have a general store you can walk to in a few minutes 3 miles into the hike as well as another store at Lake Marina, Mt. Laguna and Warner spring. If you plan it right you should have pleanty of room for all the water you need
Meadow ED
 
 
 On Fri, 9/11/09, enyapjr at comcast.net <enyapjr at comcast.net> wrote:







Pretty good 'advice' from all responses so far (even if it seems like there is 'some' disagreement)...

What you didn't include in your inquiry for "next season" is WHEN you will be hiking, nor what part of the country you're from -
both can each make a tremendous difference...  Mid April vs. mid May can be like "night and day" for water/NO water...
And someone not used to the low humidity in SoCal might not realize how much body moisture they are actually sweating out...
I believe in the old saying "if you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated" - but that, too, can vary highly amongst individuals...

I didn't see any meteorological mention in any of the responses, either - I don't think anyone on this list can predict what amount
of winter and spring precipitation there will be for "next season"...  That, too, can "make or break" your 'plans'...  
So be flexible, watch the weather over winter and into spring - you can always adjust your 'plans' and add extra capacity at the last
moment if it's a 'dry' season before starting your trek - I wouldn't necessarily run out and buy capacity for eight liters just yet...
Start watching AsABat's water report in March, 2010 - some folks, especially the 'locals', get out and start reporting conditions then...

Some mentioned the Rodriguez tank - from AsABat's water report and some journals, I don't know if I would have used it this year -
unless I was desperate (but I've thought water sources were 'okay'/good enough in the past when others didn't - so I'd have to be
there to decide for myself)...

Another good source for water info, besides AsABat's water report (print it out NOW to see what '09 was like - AsABat
will 'erase' the individual source "reports" info (but not the individual locations) later on to prepare for posting next year's info)
and the PCT Atlas, is Yogi's PCT Handbook, <http://www.pcthandbook.com/>, specifically the "On The Trail" pages which 
give info on many water sources during typical 'thru season' over a number of years on both quantity/quality of water...

Finally, in your planning - do NOT rely upon the water caches!  DO NOT rely upon the water caches!!

Have fun planning - then enjoy your hike!

Happy trails!!!
Jim (PITA)


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