Dry Stretches

[mikeunger]

Hello all,

I'm planning my 2014 NOBO hike. What are the longest stretches between water sources the AT?

Thanks.

Mike

[yellowsirocco]

The longest stretch I have seen I think is between Calf Mountain and Blackrock huts in Shenandoah National Park. It is 13 miles or so. I did it on a day with a heat advisory and carried about a gallon of water. I did wake up at like 4 though to get an early start and beat at least some of the heat. Usually there is plenty of water and you don't go more than 10 miles without some kind of water source. And it all depends on stuff like drought conditions and what not too so sometimes the springs dry up if it is a bad year.

[jdc5294]

The longest stretch I have seen I think is between Calf Mountain and Blackrock huts in Shenandoah National Park. It is 13 miles or so. I did it on a day with a heat advisory and carried about a gallon of water. I did wake up at like 4 though to get an early start and beat at least some of the heat. Usually there is plenty of water and you don't go more than 10 miles without some kind of water source. And it all depends on stuff like drought conditions and what not too so sometimes the springs dry up if it is a bad year.

I think I remember that part, I didn't really plan or read ahead and no one had talked about it, so I went kind of unprepared and it was definitely a hot day. If I remember right the water source at the shelter at the end is a piped spring kind of down in a ravine straight in front of the first shelter? Most beautiful sight I've ever seen.

[Slo-go'en]

NJ/NY has some 20 mile streaches between water holes and usually your in that area when it's blistering hot and muggy out. Actually, water starts getting scarce around Duncanon in PA and then north.

Pretty much from the middle of Virginia up to Mass you have to pay attention to where the water is and not skip any of them. Get it when you can and as much as you can.

[moldy]

In a normal rainfall year, the rule of thumb is that the longer the ridge the worse the water. For a North bound thru-hiker the first long ridges will be the approaches to Damascus which is not much of a problem with Spring rains. After you cross I-81 the first time Virginia becomes a series of ridges that later in the year without rain will be a chore to find water all the way to Daleville. Then North of Duncanon Pa. is the start of a ridge system that will go all the way to High Point New Jersey. This is the place in the heat of Summer will give you the greatest problems in finding water. In a drought year like 2007 the trail will dry up early and it will plague you all the way to New England. The truth is that when compared to the PCT or the CDT the AT has no water shortage problems at all.

[max patch]

The Companion will tell you where many of the water sources are. Carry a couple quart bottles and you'll be fine. In case of a drought year you may want to buy a gatorade in town and carry the empty bottle and use it when necessary. You'll have that all figured out by the time you (may) need it.

[SCRUB HIKER]

The only water "shortage" (like moldy said, once you do the PCT you don't think about the AT as being especially dry) on the AT that caught me out was on the very first day from Springer. After Hawk Mountain Shelter, there's no water for six miles, and they're fairly hard miles, up and over Sassafrass and Justus. I had to go off-trail down a dirt road before Justus Mountain to get water because I hadn't filled up at the shelter and was parched. Never had a problem with it once after that. Northern PA and New Jersey have some 15-mile waterless sections I think.

Pretty much from the middle of Virginia up to Mass you have to pay attention to where the water is and not skip any of them. Get it when you can and as much as you can.

^^ That sounds a little more dire than I remember it.

[johnnybgood]

The longest stretch I have seen I think is between Calf Mountain and Blackrock huts in Shenandoah National Park. It is 13 miles or so.

Jarmans Gap, 1 mile north of Calf Mountain Shelter is a good place to cache water east of the AT along the Moorman River fire road during dry the summer months. Moorman's River does provide another option and the walking is steadily down hill from the trail about a mile . The parking lot at Jarman Gap is an very short 0.1/mile walk to the AT making this a popular place to see trail magic.

After you cross I-81 the first time Virginia becomes a series of ridges that later in the year without rain will be a chore to find water all the way to Daleville.

This ^

[JAK]

Winter can be particularly tricky. Snow can a disappear and a freeze-up can make water very scarce.

[Slo-go'en]

Time of year and yearly variations do make a big difference. It's also one of those things you really can't plan more then a day ahead about. But in general, in the south in the spring and in the north in the fall you don't have to carry much or think much about water. It's the middle streach in the summer which you have to make sure you got enough to make it to the next oassis...