leor37•1mo agoProlific Poster

My dad's old trail buddy said something about water sources that changed my whole route planning

We were looking at a map for a 3 day loop in the North Cascades and he pointed at a tiny blue line. He said, 'That creek dries up by August 1st, every single year. Plan for the spring, not the map.' I always just trusted the blue lines on my topo maps before that. Now I call the ranger station and ask for the seasonal water report for any trip after July. It saved my butt on a trip to the Trinity Alps last summer. Has anyone else had a map lie to them about water?

2 comments

2 Comments

jones.grace1mo ago

Learned that the hard way in the Superstitions. My map showed a perfect little spring in a canyon. Got there and it was just a patch of cracked mud and some thirsty looking cattle. Had to hike three extra miles in the dark to a tank someone had marked with a tiny "WT" in pencil. Now I cross-check every blue squiggle with at least two trip reports from the same month.

wyattbennett1mo ago

Honestly, I've had the opposite luck. My maps have been pretty solid, even those old blue lines. @jones.grace, that sounds rough, but I usually find the springs where they're marked.