The PCT water report made me redo my whole desert plan

I was looking at the Pacific Crest Trail water report for this upcoming season and noticed something crazy. Over the last 5 years, the average distance between reliable water sources in Southern California has jumped from about 12 miles to 19 miles. I found this stat buried in a trail angel's blog post from March, and it completely changed how I'm packing my dry stretches. I used to carry 4 liters max, but now I'm planning for 6 liters plus a backup filter. Has anyone else adjusted their carry weight because of how the sources are drying up earlier?

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holly_garcia2d ago

Last year on the JMT I hit a dry stretch that was supposed to be 14 miles and it ended up being closer to 20 because the creek on my map was just a muddy puddle. I switched to carrying 5 liters as my floor for any section over 15 miles, and honestly the extra weight was worth it for the peace of mind (even if my knees complained on the climbs). The backup filter thing is smart too, I always bring a Sawyer squeeze as my main and a little Aquamira dropper as the backup since it weighs almost nothing. Also started caching water with a friend who was driving out that way, which made the 19 mile gaps way less scary. Good on you for catching that stat early, way better than finding out the hard way like I did.