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I planned on doing an overnight loop in a few weekends. I was going to to do fred Haught/Houston Brother/general crook. Is the water up there reliable? Are the springs easy to find? Should I pack water?

Not sure about the water right now, but the area may be closed to entry due to fire conditions as early as next week. Were you planning hiking from near Washington Park ?

In response to Nighthiker's reply: I was going to start at the trail head at fs300

According to their respective websites- both Tonto and Apache-Sitgreaves have fire restrictions in place. I was up at Horton last weekend and there were posted restriction signs. Coconino does not yet, so you are good so far, but at Level III, I'm sure they are coming very soon. Pinchot and Aspen are easy springs to find-right off the trail. Couldn't say about reliablity; the last post on Fred Haught was by Croc Ryan at the end of April- I'd say with that 20 degree night he wrote about- it's still pretty nice up there in the evenings.

That loop crosses more than a few forest roads, and parallels a few too. You could always map it out, then cache a bit of water, just in case.

Mike

the forest closures just ban campfires right? I can still campout there and use my stove?

Yeah, they ban fires but you can still use your stove

Campfires and charcoal grills. Just in case, ya know..you decide you might like to lug your Hibatchi up there with ya... heee...

I bought a realy nice mini-propane grill. And I do have a 5500cu frame pack, maybe it's not a bad idea!

i was up in the area just this weekend, its warmed up a lot since i was there last, couldnt say about the nights tho just up for the day, aspen springs had very little flow but there were some small pools to filter if you needed to, all along fred haught the water was stagnant and had a lot of algae growth, i wouldnt drink it

Water is reliable & easy to find @ Dane Spring Cabin & Pinchot Cabin.