[pct-l] Pct-l Digest, Vol 12, Issue 96

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Dec 24, 2008, at 6:56 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> I was wondering about water in Southern California, and  
> specifically how much carrying capacity is recommended.? 6 liters??  
> 8 liters??
I think it depends how thirsty you are and maybe how acclimated you  
are to hot, dry conditions. I carried up to 5.5 liters and that was  
actually too much. I think 3 liters would have been sufficient. For  
example, I lugged 5.5 liters from Rodriguez Spring, passed up the  
water cache at Scissors Crossing, camped in the San Felipe Hills,  
passed up the water at the 3rd Gate Cache and got to Barrel Spring  
with water left (forget how much, but more than 1 liter). I could  
have saved a bit of agony, but I am always too worried about water,  
even being a So Cal native and used to being dehydrated. Other  
people, however, will tell you they drank every drop of 8 liters in a  
single day.

>
>  was thinking it might be worth carrying another pound or so for a  
> more solid backpack.? Any comments on this are welcome.

I carried an old Jandd Mountaineering frameless pack. Very light. It  
was murder carrying all that water. My back would spasm where I used  
to have some pain due to holding and pushing around a computer mouse  
all day. I switched to a non-ultralight Osprey pack and the weight  
actually felt lighter afterwards and my back actually got better.  
Most people have those ultra-light models, but not everyone does.