Learned the hard way why you shouldn't skip checking water sources on a desert trail

Last month I did a 3 day solo hike on the Arizona Trail near the Superstition Mountains, and I pretty much messed up big time. I assumed the few creeks marked on my map would still have water because we had some rain earlier this spring. By day two, I was down to my last liter and every single stream bed was totally bone dry. I ended up having to cut the hike short and hitchhike 12 miles back to my car from a dirt road. It was honestly scary how fast things went from fine to not fine. Has anyone else had a close call like this relying on old water data? What do you use to check current conditions before you head out?

1 comments

1 Comment

elizabeth_williams8h ago

Every single stream bed was totally bone dry" - that's the kind of thing that makes you rethink your whole trip planning, huh? Did you have any backup water caches stashed along the route, or were you just trusting those map markers completely?