50 mile loop in the superstitions. water prospects?

[hikercam]

Hey all,

planning a somewhat last minute 4-night loop in the supes for mid-january. I have a lot of backpacking experience but this will be my first time in Arizona specifically, and I'm hoping to get some input as well as some suggestions for planning my water. I'm starting from Lost Dutchmans SP entrance and doing a ~50 mile loop. I'm prepared for the temps, elevation, etc.

Here's the route, subject to change but a rough idea of what I'm hoping to do:
[ Route Editor ]

tl;dr I'll be spending a lot of time on the dutchman trail & GET.

What's the water situation likely to be out there? I know it depends heavily on how much rain has fallen in the previous season, but I haven't found much reporting for this year regarding that. I know there's a few reliable water sources, La Barge et. al., but I'm wondering if anyone has been out there or knows how likely I am to be able to source water when I'm away from those few key sources.

Also hoping to just get some general opinions on my route and if anyone has any suggestions for modifying it to be more enjoyable, efficient, etc.

[xsproutx]

Day 1: Dry
Day 2: Water at roughly 1 and 2 miles (Charleboi/La Barge). Most likely dry the rest of the way although the la barge box area can hold water better. Wouldn't depend on that, though. If you go East on Red Tank vs North on Hoolie Bacon, you do have Brad's Water, which should be good to go; it's not super far from the junction either.
Day 3: Dry unless there is very recent rain
Day 4: Dry until roughly the halfway mark at reeds water (which is a well; you'll need some method to drop in a container and retrieve. Look at the water source on here for ideas) and then dry after that. It's possible that right at the end of where you have the day marked, there will be water. There's an area there that always has cattail and the sort of vegetaion that use a lot of water and I don't recall ever seeing it completely dry but it's also been an insanely dry year so I probably wouldn't count on that without further confirmation
Day 5: You guessed it! Dry! If it's rained recently you might find something crossing the trailhead area

So yeh. Unless we get a fair bit of rain in the next month, you've picked one of the dryer routes you could take, although scenic. There are certain spots you may find something but nothing I would count on and I'm a bit more of a risk taker on that front than most.

You'd have better luck on more frequent water if you turned it into a bit of a figure 8, I think, taking whisky trail south down to coffee and then going East. Whisky will almost certainly have *something* and then there's reed as well.

[hikercam]

You'd have better luck on more frequent water if you turned it into a bit of a figure 8, I think, taking whisky trail south down to coffee and then going East. Whisky will almost certainly have *something* and then there's reed as well.

Hey, thanks so much for this, it's really helpful. I'm not sure how my gaia link turned into a HAZ route editor link (magic perhaps?), so here's another Gaia route that's been updated with your feedback: gaiagps com map loc=11.9/-111.2856/33.3790&folderId=fcccdaa6-52e2-453d-a11c-535ca140b4bf

It seems like from what you've said I'll still be:

Day 1: dry (not a huge issue, I can hit the trail with plenty)
Day 2: water at lebarge, Charlebois, and whiskey spring(?)
Day 3: dry
Day 4: water at brads, whiskey spring(?)
Day 5: dry


This is at least a bit more doable. if I can camel up the night before, going into day 3 dry is suboptimal but might not be too risky. same with day 5, except I'll be leaving and wont need water for camp so I'll need even less.

Does that sound about right?

Do you have any thoughts on entirely different areas I could look at that might be a bit easier water wise? I thought about the AZT but I'm not sure how easy it'll be to get to-from trail since I'm flying into Pheonix and don't have a car.

[xsproutx]

@hikercam
That's a more managable/enjoyable plan to me. On your day 1 there, you may even find water right before the trail cuts east, not far from your planned camp spot. It's a rock area that tends to hold water for a while and is a lot point that I've only seen completely dry maybe once but this is such a dry year that I wouldn't count on it.

For day 2, Charleboi and La Barge are both reliable, they're about a mile away from each other. Charleboi spring is about .25 miles off the main trail but there's a clear social trail to it and it's easy. La Barge is good water and a bit less off trail but generally overgrown and and a little more difficult to get to (but not hard). Whisky is right next to trail and you'll see big cottonwoods that will let you know where the water is. Note, that one isn't considered 100% reliable by some but I've been during some really dry periods and there's always been something.

Day 3 will most certainly be dry and it also has the added bonus of climbing for a good chunk of it (also, the trail isn't the best... read my triplog from last year for Red Tanks). Great campsite where your plan is, though.

Day 4 is an easy day of hiking so you can grab your water at whisky and it's a pretty chill day. Looks like you have it ending near the trailhead. There's no real camping areas near there but about a mile east is a nice spot that may have water by it, too (the cat tails I mentioned)

Day 5 is dry and also a pretty decently tough hike.

Honestly, the supes are great this time of year and it'll be a good trip as long as you know what you need for water. It's dry out here which drys you out as a human faster (and I grew up in Virginia, so I'm familiar with the swamp there). It'd be tough to put together a nice 5 day trip without arranging a shuttle of some sort. If you can, there's stuff you can put together on the AZT from Roosevelt Lake to Kearny that would probably fit the bill

I'll DM you some screenshots from my gaia with some info.

[adysoft]

Dude, Superstitions in January? Bring tons of water. Even if it's rained, things dry out FAST in that desert. Don't rely on finding water outside of the known sources, you'll be disappointed.