Water: Segment 18, Mile 9.6?

imported
#1

Hi, anybody know if there is water at Segment 18, Mile 9.6? I know there is emergency water a bit earlier, but would prefer to get water right on the trail at 9.6. The book shows 1/2 cup. Thanks! Ron

Ron Davis

#2

Because of cattle, there is no really reliable water source until you hit a spring on Saguache Park Road. The last reliable water is segment 17 mm 18.3. We carried 2+ gallons and dry camped just after mm 8.8.

Leo

#3

I hiked section 18 on 7/29/2012 and found a good flow in the stream at mile 9.0. This is described as point “G” on page 169 of the CT guide book (2010 edition, I think). At this point, the jeep trail is closed off by large boulders (a reroute to avoid wet lands)and you take a left; immediately crossing a stream with a good flow (on the 29th, anyway) just before a short steep climb uphill. Conveniently, there are camp sites on a shelf just above this creek at appx. mile 9.5; which is a good spot to overnight before the long march across “the great cow pasture” that is Cochetopa park and beyond. If I had known this creek to be flowing, I would not have started with 3.5 liters for the 21 plus miles between the end of 17 & Cochetopa Creek, and I would have camped above this creek to avoid a hot, mid-day march across Cochetopa Park. As for the quality of this water (at mile 9), it is no doubt tainted with cow poo. However, I think filtering the cow poo out of this water would be little different from filtering out the horse poo that is in many of the water sources in other sections of the trail. If you have a quality filter, a stop over at mile 9 is worth considering.

Kelvin