2018 Water Reports Border to Picket Post

[Trew]

I am still recovering from hip surgery the end of November. I haven't been out yet this year. But I would like to hike from Rodington Rd to Picket post starting the end of Feb- if there is water.

Usually by this time of the year I would have been into Miles TH for a 3- 4 nighter to check water sources for myself.
So any water reports for southern AZ?

[r1grl]

I hiked passages 17 and 18 this week. There are some small pools in the creek near Whitford Canyon and the Mud Spring stock tank was full. Also, on Friday 2-3-18, the M&F Jeepers cached about a dozen gallon water jugs where FR4 crosses passage 17. The club leader said they drive in to replace the water once or twice a month.

[tibber]

@r1grl Thx so much for that update, much appreciated. You gotta say kudos to the M&F Jeepers helping the AZTers out. They really are special.

[Tough_Boots]

You can add water reports while posting your triplog and then they become linked to the specific water source / location for easy searching by others.

[sandyfortner]

I didn't realize that the Jeepers replaced water that often. A big THANKS to them!! Wow!

[Klaus]

Hi,?
I'm new to the forum and I'm sorry if this is not exactly on topic, but I am hoping to start a thru hike on the Arizona trail on March 1. I know it has been very dry this winter and I am concerned that water will be even more of a struggle than usual. Could anyone give me tips on where the hiker boxes are / driving directions, as I may be able to cache some water in the southern passages as I get driven down to Coronado. Thank you.

[CannondaleKid]

@Klaus
If you have not already done so, I'd recommend checking out the information under the 'Trail Resources' tab on the official Arizona Trail website.
Under Trail Resources the Water Sources link always has the latest pdf listing water sources and last reported conditions:
Arizona Trail Water Sources PDF

Also... right here on HikeArizona is a list of all the AZT water sources: HAZ Arizona Trail Water Reports
NOTE: Anyone can add a report too by tapping a specific source, then "add report".

[sandyfortner]

You can also check the new Day Hikers Guide for additional access points to cache water. If you are on FaceBook, the Arizona Trail Class of 2018 is another way to stay current on trail conditions and water sources. Lot's of helpful info and folks on there too! We have received some rain this past week, temps have cooled and it's been cloudy - all good! Certainly not enough to make up for what we didn't get in January, but it does help.

[Preacher]

rumor has it that someone is caching water at Ripsley wash on passage 15. is this true and if so where the hide. two weeks to go to hit this section. down to the last 100 miles.

[sandyfortner]

Well, not sure if others are out there, but we just cached 10 gallons at mile 250.4 NOBO via the app - for any AZT hiker. If you're using the old paper maps, add 2 miles to that number. Just be sure and take out the empties please. The trail steward was also out and he said that there was a cattle tank about a half mile off the trail on 15B that was clear and full but the 2 cement tanks were very low and slow. I think that he is going to update the water sources. We didn't check on any off-trail water sources since we knew that we had water. But, there definitely was no water visible that was right on the trail.

[CannondaleKid]

AZT #15 TH @ Freeman Road
As of 3/28/18: 15+ gallons of water for public consumption in the box at the Freeman Road AZT #15 TH.
(There was also a 'Trail Angel' camped in an RV at the TH with a large cooler so presumably more water is available there as well)

AZT #16 TH @ Kelvin Trailhead (See NOTE below)
As of 3/29/18: We left 9 gallons of water for public use at the AZT #16 Kelvin Trailhead.
(There are over a dozen gallons for a party which are labeled for public use AFTER June 1!! Seems crazy to me to cache over 2 months in advance,and who'd want to be hiking that section in June...)

NOTE: The AZT #16 TH @ Kelvin Trailhead is NOT the same as the AZT#15 parking lot on the Florence Kelvin Highway. Kelvin TH is located just over 1/3 mile north of the bridge over the Gila River at the parking area at the end of Centurian Lane.
GPS coordinates: 33.106542 -110.979192

Also please note, the AZT #16 TH @ Kelvin Trailhead is NOT on the current AZT app, so there is no way to add water updates at that location.