Unpopular opinion: the Colorado Trail water report is way overhyped

I spent 3 hours filtering at a dry camp because everyone said the springs would be flowing in late June. Hiked past 4 perfectly good streams that weren't on the report. A guy with a paper map and no filter walked right past me laughing. The next day I ditched the report and just asked hikers coming the other way. Took me 3 days to learn that the drinking water forecast is basically a guess. Anyone else stop using those online water updates after getting burned?

2 comments

2 Comments

veraj5329d ago

Oh man, "the drinking water forecast is basically a guess" - that hits close to home. My buddy Jake drove all the way to the Gila with a printed water report from two weeks earlier and ended up carrying 6 liters through a canyon where the creek was actually running knee-deep. He said some guy with a walking stick and a dog was just scooping water with a cup and laughing at him. After that he started just asking other hikers or checking the ground for wet spots, never touched the online reports again.

keithbutler27d ago

Man that guy with the walking stick just laughing at him is killing me. I've been there more times than I want to admit, hauling extra water through dry stretches only to find a puddle or a pipe dribbling water right where I didn't expect it. Trusting a forecast that's already stale feels like gambling with your back and your pack weight. Now I just ask people coming the other way or look for green vegetation, that's way more reliable than any online report. Your buddy Jake learned the hard way but at least he's got a good story out of it.