Superstitions - Dripping Springs Reliability

[xsproutx]

Hey everyone, another ask. [ Dripping Spring ] itself seems to be reliable but I'm not quite clear if this can be considered to be a reliable place to actually collect some of that water for filtering. I'm trying to put together a route that would have me ending my day near there but it'd be pretty critical to be able to get water there. There are no recent reports so I'm trying to figure out if I should trust it or not in the next couple of weeks. Anyone care to chime in that's more familiar with the area ?

[hikeaz]

Worst case... Reeds Water will have water in the well. You can bring some rope (10') to lower in a bottle/pot, or just stem down in. ((You will need a weight (rock,etc.) to weigh down the pot/bottle if using a rope of course))
If you curve around into Randolph Canyon from D.S. about 1 mile or less there is often water in the red, bedrock pools (it's a pretty spot, too!), and most certainly about 1.25 mi.further along (East) in Randolph at Randolph Spring as well.

[FOTG]

@xsproutx
[ photo ]

This is the area Hike AZ is talking about in Randolph, I feel there is water out there somewhere, but with some of the areas up canyon from Randolph being within the burn zones of recent fires, who knows? That bedrock could be under three foot of sand now too, due to the historic rains and flooding coming from the burned zones. If its just an overnight trip, maybe be cautious and bring enough water for a spartan like dry camp, if needed, but I think water should be out there somewhere and within a quick detour of Dripping.

[xsproutx]

@friendofThundergod
Thanks! You echoed some of the concern I had with the fire/active monsoon potentially changing some patterns. It'll be part of a multi-night trip and I've been itching to get out but was waiting for more trip reports on trail conditions/water reports. I'm at the point where I'm just going to see how it goes and, worse case, it's a fairly easy hike from there back to peralta, even if it would mean some night hiking and more miles in the day than I'd like.

[nonot]

@xsproutx
Dripping springs is just a drip and you'd have to rig up something to collect it, and it will take a long time (overnight) to likely collect enough to be substantive.

Typical winter conditions make it so that there is some light flow down the canyon itself making the collection rigging unnecessary, but I'm not sure of current conditions.

If the canyon is not flowing there is a spot where a pool often forms, by going up Fraser canyon towards the Whetstone spring area. If I remember, the pool is before you reach the spring at the intersection of Fraser and Musk Hog. The slickrock tanks in Randolph already mentioned are another option.

[ALMAL]

@hikeaz
[ photo ]
I'd bring my own.

[hikeaz]

@ALMAL
That water looks pretty good when compared to SOME I have been forced to use. OP stated he was intending on filtering. Sure as hell beats waiting for it @ DS.

[xsproutx]

That water looks freaking amazing compared to most the crap I end up filtering here in AZ. I'm thinking ALMAL meant to bring my own bail?

[hikeaz]

@xsproutx
I thought of that as well....oh for want of a noun!

[jfrankel]

HI,

I'm wondering about general water availability in the superstitions. Which springs can I count on right now? Where can I get reports? I"m hoping to plan a 7-day route from Dec 20th to Dec 27th or so.

Appreciate the help.

[xsproutx]

@jfrankel
You can get reports here if you go to the 'plan' section and 'map' and zoom in on the supes, select water, and filter. You can also look at guides for different trails and see the water reports on the right side of the page for that section. In general, there aren't a lot of water reports yet for this winter season but you can see what's reliable and not from a historical perspective. Generally speaking, though, you can count on second water spring, La Barge Spring, Charlebois Spring, Brads Water, and Reavis creek to be reliable right now and year round.

There are some other sources like Piper, kane, and Bluff that *likely* have water but I'd be a little more hesitant to rely on them without recent reports. I would generally count on Whisky during the winter but there was a recent report that said it was dry; I'm not sure if they checked downstream from the spring box, though, which is usually where I've seen water (the box is almost always empty but there are usually large pools in the winter a little north). There are also other places where you'd expect to find water like Music canyon and on some slick rock areas like in Bark's but the springs I listed above are the ones you can count on.

I'm likely headed out for 3 days this week; haven't decided my route yet but will likely take me by Bluff/Reed/Dripping Springs and will update what I find

[jfrankel]

@xsproutx
Great, appreciate the info. The mapping resource with water reports on this site is great. And definitely will be eager to here what you find.

Is there any map in general that you would recommend/that you use for the superstitions?

[joebartels]

Is there any map in general that you would recommend/that you use for the superstitions?

Superstition Wilderness Map by Beartooth.
Possibly still available local in the metro Phoenix vicinity at REI & Wide World of Maps

[hikeaz]

WWoM gets a premium, $18.95.
REI has them in stock @ $13.95.

[xsproutx]

Yeh, that's the same I have for a paper map. I do all my planning on Gaia GPS for backpacking trips as it allows you to quickly build/change routes and see the mileage and elevation profiles which is nice. It looks like you may be planning a trip from out of state so that's something to watch out for; the Supes aren't what you would call "flat" and there are a couple of places that have some big climbs.
You can then save that on your phone for offline viewing and export to a GPS device like a garmin watch or similar. They have a free version and a paid version; worth the money in my opinion.