Pro tip: the ranger at Grayson Highlands told me to stop planning miles and plan water stops instead, and it saved my trip

Emma Young · 2026-10-24T05:20:03.607337+00:00

I did a 3 day loop out of Massie Gap two weekends ago and had the whole thing mapped to exact mileage. Day 2 was going to be 14 miles, no big deal. What I didn't plan was that the spring past the Scales was barely a trickle in July. I sat there with a dry bottle for a bit too long before a guy coming the other way told me the next reliable water was almost 6 miles out. I ended up dry for 4 hours and got a nice headache out of it. Now I mark water sources on the map first and build the day around those. Anybody got a good way to check flow before a summer trip? I'm tired of guessing.

🐿️Pinecone Attack

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Pro tip: the ranger at Grayson Highlands told me to stop planning miles and plan water stops instead, and it saved my trip | Backpacking Routes - Pinecone Attack