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I'm looking to do the AZT in April and I've heard you only need to cache water the first jaunt of it, after leaving the Mexico border. What I can't find is any reliable information about where water sources are and how far apart. Can anyone tell me if its true that the only section where water is iffy is the first part and how far apart the water sources are? I want to know if I should be planning caches in March

Spring is traditionally the better time to find H2O around here, but very little of AZ has reliable water. Are you checking on the AZ trail site - Water Sources? You will find a link for that from the pull down menu - second from the left - Trail Resources. Also, look at current trip reports / water reports here on HAZ in the AZ trail section. You can always contact the stewards as you go along for any updates if you can access to Internet. I did sections 1,2 and 3 last March and didn't cache any water and had no problems. 14 and 15 can be pretty tough - water is often supplied by volunteers at a location between the 2 sections but it wouldn't hurt to cache your own. Hope to do these sections next week so may have better idea once my toes are on the tread. North of Jacob Lake to the Utah border is another historically dry run. I cached water along there and was glad of it. The north section of the Supes is dry too. The Mazatals can be tricky also. Hopefully, we will have a wet winter - it's shaping up that way - and, if so, water will be less tricky. Another consideration is how many miles you can do a day. If you're fast enough, you can get through these dry sections and to water. We slower hikers need to plan an extra day and therefore more water cached / carried.

It seems most people worry about the stretch from Oracle to Picket Post near Superior. From everything I've heard, read, and experienced, the real worry is the stretch from Flagstaff to the South Rim of Grand Canyon, especially through Babbit Ranch.

sandyfortner wrote: 14 and 15 can be pretty tough - water is often supplied by volunteers at a location between the 2 sections.

Can confirm. I just went to cache some food and water for my trip from Oracle to Superior next week. There was loads of water in the 2 cache boxes we checked, more than I expected considering its not prime AZT thru hiking season. There was 4 - 6 gallons at the Kelvin Hwy cache, and around 10 - 15 gallons at the Tortilla Mountains TH cache. Me and the cousin both added 2 gallons to the Tortilla Mountains TH cache and consolidated any half empties.

When ABC did our trail maintenance the first weekend of Dec. Wendy also cached at least a dozen gallons in Alamo Canyon where the trail crosses the FS road. Again, since it's not the prime thru-hiking season, I would imagine much of that remains.

rcorfman wrote: the real worry is the stretch from Flagstaff to the South Rim of Grand Canyon, especially through Babbit Ranch.

Definitely! In the spring there was virtually no water along there. Not sure of current conditions since it was a wetter summer, but that's another good spot to look at caching.

sandyfortner wrote:When ABC did our trail maintenance the first weekend of Dec. Wendy also cached at least a dozen gallons in Alamo Canyon where the trail crosses the FS road. Again, since it's not the prime thru-hiking season, I would imagine much of that remains.

I assume you're talking about FR 4 (Telegraph Canyon Rd)? We were going to try and cache some water there too but I felt uncomfortable taking my truck up that road, its a little too rocky.

Yes. That's the spot and YIKES on that road!!! I can not imagine that all the water cached there on the 6th could be gone unless quads or 4x4 accessed it - and I doubt that. I think that those groups are pretty good at leaving hiker / biker water for those who need it.

@didjapelli
Hi, I am planning the trail in mid March and am looking for a buddy to hike with and thought maybe you might be interested; if so, let me know.

I won't say too much different from what's already been said, but when I did from Mexico to Tucson last year, water was readily available in plenty of spots. I kept up with some friends that I had met and they complained about water between Oracle and Superior and from Flagstaff to the GC. I'm also planning on hiking it in its entirety this spring, so I'm also keeping tabs on the weather and it looks like El Nino will be helping us out.