Water in the Superstitions?

[captainphx]

Anybody been hiking in the Superstitions recently? I was wondering if the springs are drying up with our record breaking number of days without rain. We were wanting to do a 3 day pack trip over Tortilla Pass and Red Tanks Divide this week.

[Winnie Y Chin]

I'm wondering the same thing too...I'm planning a group backpacking trip to Bluff Springs in 2 weeks. I would probably say yes and take water in with you to be safe. That's what I'm planning to do.

Winnie

[hikeaz]

Whiskey & Charlebois are good as of last W/E. Charlebois is gushing.

[captainphx]

Well, we just got back froma 3 day backpack trip in the Superstitions. Canyon lake trailhead to second water, boulder canyon, calvary trail, marsh valley, red bull pass and back down boulder canyon. Second water spring was flowing as was Charlbouis. Almost too hot to hike though.

[bfulton]

I know I've been "near" charlebois spring on two different trips and ended up finding a sufficient sized pool in the rocks to filter and move on. So my question is this, any good indicators as to where charlebois is? It gets narrow shortly after the cavalry trail junction and in the narrow section is where I've found water. Is the spring too much further north of there?

[hikeaz]

I know I've been "near" charlebois spring on two different trips and ended up finding a sufficient sized pool in the rocks to filter and move on. So my question is this, any good indicators as to where charlebois is? It gets narrow shortly after the cavalry trail junction and in the narrow section is where I've found water. Is the spring too much further north of there?

If you were to look on the left third of this map (link below), just below 1/2 way down, you'll see Charlebois Spring. It is about 1/4 mile north of the Dutchman Trail (#104).
The water often runs all the way down to LaBarge Creek, but not always. Charlebois Canyon is about 1- 1/2 miles east on the Dutchman from where it intersects the Calvary, and the spring is 1/4 mile up this canyon.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto/wildernes ... rs_map.htm

Hope this helps....

[Pierre S]

I am planning a trip on the Campaign Creek trail (#256) in mid March. Going south from Campaign trailhead. Have never been there before. Is water likely to be available in that creek at that time?

[hikeaz]

I am planning a trip on the Campaign Creek trail (#256) in mid March. Going south from Campaign trailhead. Have never been there before. Is water likely to be available in that creek at that time?

You should be good-to-go at the lower sections, but it might get scarcer up by the Fireline intersection & beyond. That is, until you get down to Pinto Creek, where it is likely you'll find some as well.

A few others, more East Sups savy than me, will likely have an up-to-the-minute water report as we get closer to March.


kurt

[deserttarheel]

In response to bfulton's reply: Charlebois is a large cement tank right by the trail going up the canyon (Peters trail?) Can't miss it.

By the way, some maps and hiking guides show Whitewater Spring at the junction of the Calvary and Dutchman's trails, and say it is reliable, but I can't find it. Does it exist?

[hikeaz]

In response to desert tarheel's reply:

I believe that it might be named "White Rock Spring". When there a few weeks ago, we looked, as did another couple of guys we saw, and there are no signs of it to me. I have looked most every year for the last few, and with the obvious exception(s) of when Labarge is running or shortly thereafter, I've seen nothing.
I do, however, remember it being a decent spring back in the late 80's.

re. Charebois, I'd head up-canyon past the horse trough to the actual spring. It's a lot prettier, and the water wouldn't need filtering/treatment.
A few minutes upstream of the spring (slow going in here) and up a small side drainage to the right (looking upcanyon) is an old glory hole.


kurt

[te_wa]

sorry Kurt, must be my age?
what in Earth is a glory hole?

[hikeaz]

sorry Kurt, must be my age?
what in Earth is a glory hole?

Either that or MY age...



Glory hole (mining)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A glory hole is a type of mine.
In the western United States during the Gold Rush days, independent miners who did not have the finances to dig a conventional mine shaft would dig a shaft straight down to try to find a gold seam. These perpendicular shafts became known as "glory holes".

In modern mining, a glory hole is an open-cut or pit mine used to reach and mine an ore deposit. The ore is extracted from the bottom level via an adit. In glory-hole mining, a steep-sided, funnel-shaped surface excavation is connected to tunnels below it. Rocks blasted off the sides of the excavation fall into the tunnels, from which they are then removed.

Many similar holes or excavations in construction sites may also be referred to as glory holes.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glory_hole_%28mining%29"

[Sredfield]

Picked this up today from FS

Bluff Spring Tr-104 Pipeconnection broken, go 60 ft for water, slow 1/27/12
Charlebois Tr 104 Water flowing with good pools 1/21/12
Dripping Springs Tr 108 Very good water, large pools 1/20/12
Hackberry Spring Slow flow from pipe, pool behind pipe 2/03/12
Kane Spring Tr 105 Good Pool, 1/11/12
La Barge Tr 107 Good flow, trough full 1/27/12
Second Water Tr 236 Deep pools at spring, several along trail 2/3/12
Wiskey Spring Tr 238 Medium size pools 1/27/12

Campaign Creek Tr 256 Good flow along trail 1/31/12
Brushy Spring Tr 256 Good pools 1/31/12
Paradise Spring Tr 271 Good pools, slow flow thru pools 2/16/12
Reavis Creek Tr 109 Good flow approaching Fire-Line Trail, 10/07/11
Oak Flat Tr 123 Excellent flow 2/6/12
Rogers Spring Tr 212 Trough is dry, tubing leaks 10/7/11
Walnut Spring Tr 119 Good Pool 1/31/12
Shake Spring Tr 130 Several large pools with good flow 2/6/12

[SuperstitionGuy]

It's interesting that no one, not even the USFS mentions the spring north of the Reavis Ranch apple trees along Reavis Creek. It is located just north of the old truck frame made into a trailer that is on the west side of the stream. Will someone please GPS it for all to enjoy.

I HAVE NEVER SEEN IT DRY AND THERE IS NO POOL TO POLLUTE THE WATER FLOWING FROM THE SPRING.

http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=55891

Below is a link to a previous forum post of how to locate the spring:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3667&p=32184&hilit= ... ame#p32184

[Nighthiker]

Best place to find water in the desert is to take it with you.

[hikeaz]

The FS report is in error re. Bluff Spring. Bluff Spring Pipe is intact and flowing at 1 quart per 45 seconds. As is always the case there - the water from the pipe has an ever-so-slight metallic taste.

An additional source in spring is in Needle Canyon (just upstream of the LaBarge/Boulder canyon side).

[kevinweitzel75]

@SuperstitionGuy
Thank you for that bit of info. Will have to find that when I go up there in a few weeks, will check is see if pipe is still there. Will post a triplog also.

[hikingodS]

Just a quick water update on the Superstitions. I just finished a 3 day trip yesterday. I had some concern over water availability due to the long dry spell, and, while water levels were lower than I had seen on previous trips, there was no problem obtaining decent water. We had water from LaBarge spring (flowing at the tank at about a quart a minute), there was water at Charlebois, pools along the Dutchman trail heading west from Charlebois, pools at the junction of the Campaign trail with the Dutchman, a few pools on the section of Boulder Canyon we traveled between the Dutchman and the west end of the Campaign trail; also a few spots of water on the Terrapin trail and Bluff Springs trail. These water sources were all as seen from the trail (except LaBarge and Charlebois)-- I'm sure more sources were there with a little searching.

The Mesa Ranger district was absolutely NO help when we were seeking info on water conditions. All they would say is that they recommend you carry one gallon of water per person per day....

[big_load]

The Mesa Ranger district was absolutely NO help when we were seeking info on water conditions.

I'll never forget my first two discussions with them about water, both many years ago now. In the first, I asked if there were any recent water reports. The reply is that there are no reliable water sources in the Superstions, period; not Reavis, not Charlebois, not LaBarge. When I came out, I tried to give them a water report and they didn't want to hear it.

Things seem to have changed for the better since then. I've seen water reports posted at the TH several times, with dates and everything.

[hikingodS]

They did have a water report posted at the Peralta trailhead-- but the information was 6-8 weeks old.... We did start our hike with contingency plans in case the only water we could find was at LaBarge and Charlebois, and were pleased to not have to adjust our original plan due to lack of water.