Date: 2012-01-03
To: Water
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

The topic for today is water management. Again I will preface my comments by saying that these are only my experiences on this and other topics. Do what you want and what works for you. Water: I am sure that somewhere, at some time, someone who chose to carry a gallon of water with them is alive today because of it. In fact, on the PCT there are sections where you legitimately NEED to carry eight liters or more of water between water sources. This simply is NOT the case while hiking the AT. I say this because on several occasions I have seen some of the most foolish decisions to carry excess weight involving carrying too much water. One example is an older gent who had his entire fluid management system worked out. He carried four 1-liter Nalgene bottles with him. Not only is this about 8 pounds of fluid, he also has 6 ounces per bottle or another pound and a half of plastic. One container had a Gatorade mix to help maintain his electrolyte balance. One had a protein mix for extra protein, of course. One was to be used only for cooking and the fourth was for emergency use. No ¢¦ really. This was the program. When he talked about it, he had this glazed-over look that contained such pride. He had figured out the ultimate fluid/hydration management system. I learned of his wisdom at my first shelter stop on my first hike. Even then, on my first hiking day, I thought that was incredibly aggressive. But since this was my first night on the AT, I thought I would keep an open mind.The second such experience is what I find to be even more ridicules then the first. Not because there was much difference in the amount of fluids being carried but more the location that he was still carrying it. After leaving one of my favorite stays at the Dutch Haus B&B and being dropped off on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I hiked to the first shelter at the southern end of the Shenandoah National Park, Calf Mountain Shelter. In the morning, again an older gent, from Australia, who claimed he was a thru hiker, had his items on the picnic table as he packed up. He must have had 8 or 9 bottles in various sizes which he obviously had acquired along the way. They ranged from pint sized to quart sized. In-all there was probably between 3 to 4 liters of water. When he finished packing he kneeled on the ground and proceeded to climb his way into the shoulder straps. His pack was still so heavy that he needed help to stand up. The pack must have weighed 50-60 pounds. He was not a big guy. The reason that this example is such a greater travesty then the first example above is that if he was indeed a thru hiker he did not learn a single thing about water availability not to mention reduced pack weight. In fact, parks like Shenandoah not only have good water sources, there are usually short distances between them. At least with my first experience described above, the guy carrying the 4 liters was still new to hiking the AT. I hope he quickly learned from it. The second guy had hiked around 860 miles from Springer and is still carrying a ton of unneeded weight, obviously not just too much water.Here is the water story of the AT. You come across water sources often. There are far more sources then listed in your guide. The guides usually list just the good ones and/or the more reliable sources. If you carry a filter you should only carry what your immediate needs are, i.e., a liter or less. The only time water began to get sparse on both hikes was when the hotter temps hit and the springs in NY, NJ and Pennsylvania began to dry up. That was the only time I needed to carry more than a liter of water and that was for a short period only. I do not carry a filter. I started out on my first hike with a sweet-water but it froze up at night and I felt like I was carrying dead weight. I bought my first drops in Hiawassee and have never gone back to a filter. Most of the water you will find on the AT at marked locations will probably be some of the best water you will ever drink. That does not mean you should be careless about it. Aqua-Mira or the sweet-water drops are really all you will need for the entire hike. You don¢t need a filter. You can get info on how to make your own chorine solution on the internet for about 2 cents. For 95% of the hike, I will carry only a 0.7 liter bottle of water as I hike. I change bottles whenever I can, about 3-5 days. I carry a 2-liter platypus bag for use when I am at a shelter. If not in use, I blow it up, wrap a piece of cloths around it and use it a a pillow at night. When I get water from a reliable source I do not use drops. When I have any concern whatsoever as to the source, I will use drops. I use the camel back drinking method and that works great for me. I drink at least a liter of water before I start hiking. I will also drink a liter when I stop at a water source during the day. Again, at my stopping point at the end of the day, I will drink another liter of water. This gives me plenty of water for the day and yet I carry very little. The water I am carrying in my stomach is being processed and put to good use rehydrating my body. I very rarely get thirsty when I am hiking. If I know I am stopping shortly for the day or I know that water will be readily available soon, I will take a drink out of my bottle and then dump out any extra so I don't have to carry any more than needed. This really does work and 1 pound a pint, it saves weight.You will hear the stories of a hiker getting sick and water is the first thing that gets the blame. Although it may be the cause of one or two trail illnesses, I am not a believer that it is responsible for as many situations as it gets the rap for. If you want to avoid getting sick think of a few things. Avoid some of the all-you-can-eat buffets, perhaps mainly the Chinese and Mexican buffets. I know, this is blasphemy when it comes to hiking but be careful. I know of many, many hikers that come away from them the next day or two in a very bad way. Enough to make me never eat at one and my two favorite foods are Chinese and Mexican. As far as avoiding catching a stomach virus such as guarardia, treating questionable water is a good thing but not number one as far as I am concerned. Number 1 is to wash your hands before you handle food. Period. Experienced hikers believe that you are more likely to catch giardia from dirty hands then from bad water. I am very much in that camp of thought. Bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer and use it after you do your duty in the woods and certainly before you prep or handle food. Also, don¢t share in someone else¢s gorp or snack pack. You are counting on their hands and the hands of everyone who grabbed something out of that bag to be clean as well. They aren¢t. If you want to share your gorp or food, no problem. Spoon some out onto their plate or you shake some into their hand. I am far from a germ-a-phoebe, but all too often, you will see bad hygiene and poor food handling on the part of many of your fellow hikers. Imagine what goes on that you don¢t see. I bring the hand cleanliness topic up in the water topic since if you really understand how you can and will get sick on the trail if you don¢t take the proper cautions, you won¢t place such a big emphasis on water. You won¢t feel the need to carry more then you really need. Learn to trust the water sources more and hand cleanliness less. If you carried just one liter less of water the entire trail, your feet will thank you two pounds worth of weight for 5 million plus steps. Take off another pound off for that filter and you are where you should be. These are rules that I follow as part of my trail religion. I can honestly say that after two complete hikes of the AT, I have not had a single sick day. I am hoping to make it three times.