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

[Scott Bryce]

Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com wrote:
> I think it depends how thirsty you are and maybe how acclimated you
>  are to hot, dry conditions.

"It depends" really is the best answer we may be able to give you. For
comparison...

> I carried up to 5.5 liters and that was actually too much.

I carried up to 7 liters, and it was about right.

> For example, I lugged 5.5 liters from Rodriguez Spring,

I carried 3 liters from Rodriguez Spring.

> passed up the water cache at Scissors Crossing,

I arrived at Scissors Crossing with no water. I drank one liter at
Scissors Crossing and carried another 7 liters into the San Felipe
Hills, hoping they would take me all the way to Barrel Spring. I camped
about 1/2 mile past Scissors Crossing, and again about 1 mile shy of
Barrel Spring.

> camped in the San Felipe Hills, passed up the water at the 3rd Gate
> Cache

When I got to the Third Gate, I realized that the 7 liters I left
Scissors Crossing with were not going to get me all the way to Barrel
Spring. I grabbed another 2 liters at the Third Gate.

> and got to Barrel Spring with water left

I got to Barrel Spring with less than 1 liter left.

> Other people, however, will tell you they drank every drop of 8
> liters in a single day.

That would be me. I got off the trail at Pines to Palms badly dehydrated.

But I was also hiking all day in temps that were well above 100 degrees
F. I was also hiking slower than the other hikers I encountered on the
trail, so it was taking me longer to hike from one water source to the
next than most other hikers.

I figured one liter for every 3 miles plus an additional liter for a dry
camp. Based on discussions on this list, I was probably carrying a lot
more water than most other hikers. If I were to do it again, I would
carry the same amount of water, but I would try to drink more than a
liter of water at each water stop.