[pct-l] Water Capacity in Desert

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

Also, I forgot to mention this, it was unseasonably cool most times I  
dropped into true desert. Scissors Crossing was only in the 80s when  
I arrived. I stayed in Cabazon so that desert section was air- 
conditioned for me. The Antelope Valley was almost cold. We huddled  
under the bridge with down jackets and sleeping bags. Jawbone Cyn was  
in the 90s. Hat Creek Rim was in the 90s. I was lucky. The hottest  
day for me was Deep Creek at 103 and there was plenty of water there.

I don't think I could have carried 8 liters of water even if I wanted  
to. It would be too much for me. I am more used to the chaparral than  
a lot of people, though.

Also, I noticed that the ultralighters would walk past any water  
source that was shallow or looked dirty. I took water from any  
natural source that would not kill me, even stopping at tiny little  
puddles to top off. So I carried only a maximum of 5.5 liters at any  
time, but I kept it full.

Piper/Diane

On Oct 29, 2008, at 12:32 PM, Gary Wright wrote:

>
> On Oct 29, 2008, at 2:19 PM, Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com  
> wrote:
>> I think 8 liters sounds like too much. But you know your own body. I
>> never carried more than 5.5 liters and frankly, that was too much for
>> me. I almost always had some water left when I came to a source.
>
> You don't say if you relied on water caches at all.  That is important
> to know and the original poster said he was *not* going to rely on
> water caches.
>
> In hot weather, when not using water caches, I think it would be
> wise to be able to carry 7-8 liters of water.  With those constraints
> it is also very important to not hike during the heat of the day.  Get
> up early, take a long siesta, hike late.
>
> Radar