I was wondering how reliable some of the water source were and how long of a stretch there may be before water is accessible. This brings me to the question of how much water storage should you be prepared to provide. I imagine on a good day you would only need to drink 2-3 liters and would probably use a liter or 2 throught the day for meal preparation. so thats essentially 5 liters a day. Is this anywhere close to practical? any help would be appreciated thanks!.
Collin
collin
If you haven’t already found it, this link will answer some of your questions. It’s very reliable information if it’s up to date, which it often is.
Most sources, assuming they’re up to date, are highly reliable. This is a major highway of a trail. The ones that aren’t have some sort of indication in the table.
5 liters a day is reasonable if you’re doing typical mileage and the weather is good. If you hit hot, exposed weather, are doing grueling mileage or elevation gain, or fancy cooking, you might go as high as 8 liters for a day. I never carried more than 5, though many others carried more. Most of the time you’ll only need to carry 1-3 liters. So i would have a permanent storage ability for 2 liters and then carry more plastic bottles out of town if the next section has long stretches where 2 liters isn’t enough. Water is heavy.
:cheers
markv
I usually carry two one liter “gatorade” bottles (light, tough, and cheap) and keep them filled. For dryer stretches, I’ll pack 2 or 3 more liters in a collapsible bladder. Get “gatorade” bottles with the wide mouth as they’re much easier to fill. My personal rule of thumb is to never carry more than 4 liters, it’s just too much weight. If you cook or rehydrate food, do that only at water sources. Eat GORP, energy bars, etc. on the dry stretches. If you like energy drinks, mix them on the weak side during dry stretches. I find if they’re too sweet , I just get thirstier.
Also, if you start with the pack on kick-off day, you can get a very up-to-date copy of SoCal water sources. Before leaving Hiker Heaven in Agua Dulce, a similar water source list will be available.
It’s been an above average winter for precip here in Calif this year. Lack of water shouldn’t be a concern.
bowlegs
Ditto the above smart people. When I started the PCT (my first desert hike) I had capacity for seven liters. That was way too much, I learned. I would now have a five liter capacity for the PCT, two 2-L platys and a 1-L bottle. A lesson I learned is to use multiple smaller containers, rather than one large one. Another trick to use less water at meals is to try no-cook meals. I now very seldom carry more than three liters, unless the distance exceeds 30 miles or it’s very hot, then I might double that.
Garlic
Ok great yea i was hoping 5 would be fine because i am concerned about weight obviously… But i was a little skeptical about only carrying enought for that day and maybe the morning at a time. Are there really enough sources to refill everyday?
Collin
If you do 15 or 20 miles a day you’ll refill every day. If you start a thru hike at Mexico and go 5 or 10 miles a day to ease in to things, you might not be able to refill daily.
bowlegs
With the exception of the driest sections in SoCal and Southern OR (the worst water), I think this is more than enough. Just make sure you “camel up” at sources and know where the next one is. In MOST areas of the trail I would argue that carrying any water at all is wasteful weight.
I would also argue that a filter is unnecessary and can actually negatively affect your water intake due to it’s inherent hassle. If you just have a cup hooked to a convenient place on the pack you are more likely to take a quick drink at that random stream and therefore stay consistently hydrated.
I think I only treated water about a dozen times on the entire trail. I was certainly happy to have treatment then, but the Pacific CREST Trail is generally high in the watershed by design and therefore high quality agua surrounds you.
Hans Berg