what is the longest section without a water sourse on the p.c.t? how long is it? how much water should i carry? thanks!
yotam
Water sourses southeren california
system
#4
Mile 609 is 609 miles north of the beginning of the trail at the US-Mexican border. Mile 644 is 35 miles north of mile 609.
yogi
yogi
system
#5
yes i know that…but is this area in the mojave area or before or after? what towns are just before/after this area? thanks
cheeserTOM
system
#6
yotam - every year is different, according to how much snow and rain fell in the previous winter… In '05 there was plenty of water - virtually all the ‘seasonal’ springs and streams were flowing. In the drier sections, there are water caches. these should never be relied upon, but they do provide a welcome sight to a hot, weary thru-hiker! I would normally ‘hedge’ my bet in these areas by carrying enough water to survive. If its unusually hot, of course you should carry extra water. The actual amount that you need to carry really depends on how much you sweat, how much your body consumes, and how fast you hike - its very much individual. You’ll get a feel for it as you hike progresses.
freebird
system
#7
the location of miles 609-644 is in oregon yogi? really? i don t think so…
Data Book mileage
Mile 609 is 609 miles north of the beginning of the trail at the US-Mexican border. Mile 644 is 35 miles north of mile 609.
yogi
cheeserTOM
system
#8
Tom - this area is just south of Walker Pass: its the last section of high desert in CA (heading north) on the PCT. There’s a local woman named Mary who stocks two water caches here: at Kelso valley road and Bird Spring Pass. The caches were full in '05 but she left a note indicating that she would probably not be able to continue the caches in the future…
Meadow Ed might have current cache info for this area @ the Kickoff.
freebird
system
#10
Do yourself a favor and ignore any cache information for SoCal. Just pretend they are not there. Carry your own water, don’t get burned, maybe get a pleasant surprise. The one exception might be for Cache 22, but that is up in NorCal,
Suge
system
#11
Wow. I remember that stretch so well! The first day of it was the only time on the Trail that I really wondered what on Earth I was doing!! It’s all mental, and that was my lowest day on the whole PCT.
You go from one of those kind-of-nice grassy stretches with small black oaks here and there, turn a corner and then there’s no shade whatsoever for miles and miles except what little you can get from Joshua trees. The Trail was so abused by 4-wheelers when Jeff and I went through that I was sinking in up to my ankles in the sand in places. It was tough. Robin Bird Pass at sunset, however, was beautiful and windy.
I’m not sure that 7 liters would be enough water for this stretch, unless it was very cool or you planned to do all the miles in one day. Some people are hiking machines, but 35 miles was way more than I could manage over that sand pit stretch. I’m pretty sure there are a few sources in this stretch that are a ways off trail. (don’t have my guides handy.)
Don’t count on water at any cache. If it’s not there, you could be in some serious trouble, and if you choose to hike in a difficult environment, you need to be fully responsible for your own safety.
Just do the extra off-trail walking if you need the water, and treat a cache like a pleasant bonus if it is there. We would sometimes stop at desert caches and make a liter of Crystal Light or something and get an extra hydration boost, but we never counted on them, especially peak season.
Chipper