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How much water should I carry out of a water source? How much water should I drink per day in the desert?

@johnnyo979

My long-term average water use in cool to moderate weather is 3.5-4.0 liters per day. Above 80F, it increases quite a bit. A bigger person will probably need a bit more.

At the risk of sounding a bit harsh, if you don't know the answer to that question, you probably need to learn a bit more about yourself before venturing out into the desert for days on end.

Water consumption is highly personal. Some people don't need nearly as much as other people. But there are many variables and only you can know what your body needs in varying situations (mileage, elevation gain, temperature, humidity, sun exposure, etc.)

As for the AZT, one piece of advice I've read here repeatedly is

sredfield wrote:Never leave a water source with an empty belly--drink till you slosh.

Yep, agree totally with Chumley here. Carrying water doesn't just mean in a plastic or metal container. Hydration should be part of your pre-trip routine. I've heard Cody Lundin say to drink until you almost feel nauseous.

If you are from Kentucky and have never hiked here, I would strongly suggest getting in some day hikes to see how your body responds before you decide to do an 800 mile through hike. While spring can be mild for temps across a good part of the state, you have to factor in the aridity as well. It is quite common to encounter only 5-20% relative humidity in the southern half of the state, and it takes some getting used to especially if you come form a more humid climate. I tend to drink 3-4 liters on a 10 mile day hike this time of year, add another 2 liters to that if you are talking summer time. But then again, I have been living here since I was 4 years old, and I work outside about half my time as well.

Thanks The Dude. That is helpful. Someone recommended that I try to at least carry six liters from the source.

It really all depends on where the next water source is. If it's ten miles up the trail, and reachable that day, then you probably don't need much unless it's hot out. If it's 25 miles up the trail and you won't reach it until afternoon the next day, then maybe six liters. You're gonna have to figure this out yourself using the water report and current conditions.

I suspect this spring, water won't be too much of an issue from Mexico until Oracle as long as you pay attention to the water report.

@rcorfman
I don't have a smart phone. Would it be okay to print the water report out a few days before the trip?

The advice to drink as much as you can (like to the point of nausea) is potentially dangerous. Excessive water intake while you are exerting yourself and sweating can lead to hyponatremia, which can cause seizures and death. Basically, you lose sodium in your sweat, but you don't replace it if you just drink water. Eventually, your body fluids become too dilute so that your cells start swelling and no longer function. If untreated, it can be incapacitating.

You mostly hear about this in marathon runners on hot days, but a number of cases have been reported in the Grand Canyon. In desert heat, your sweat will evaporate almost instantly, so you may not even be aware how much you are sweating.

Luckily, there are easy solutions: drink Gatorade or other sports drinks with electrolytes, or eat salty snacks to replace your sodium and electrolytes. On the desert sections of the PCT, a lot of us used Nuun tablets to replace our electrolytes. Anecdotally, I felt better hiking on hot days when I had the Nuun than without them.

(I realize that most of you desert hikers already know this stuff--this was intended for the OP)

johnnyo979 wrote:@rcorfmanI don't have a smart phone. Would it be okay to print the water report out a few days before the trip?

What I did, was print the datasheet and annotate it with the water report. The water report is essentially a subset of the data sheet.

Through much trial and error I finally settled on Nuun tablets as well in Arizona. One thing that works for me that one of my ultra-marathon running buddies showed me is to soak chia seeds in your Nuun enhanced water. The chia seeds swell up into little gelatinous blobs, essentially making an electrolyte jello. Burns off a bit slower than plain water.

SpiderLegs wrote:Through much trial and error I finally settled on Nuun tablets as well in Arizona. One thing that works for me that one of my ultra-marathon running buddies showed me is to soak chia seeds in your Nuun enhanced water. The chia seeds swell up into little gelatinous blobs, essentially making an electrolyte jello. Burns off a bit slower than plain water.

I may try the Nuun tablets this summer...

SpiderLegs wrote:gelatinous blobs, essentially making an electrolyte jello

this would make me hurl my guts out

For electrolytes - also consider Elete electrolytes. http://elete.com/
Excellent osmolality

trekkin gecko wrote:

SpiderLegs wrote:gelatinous blobs, essentially making an electrolyte jello

this would make me hurl my guts out

Actually not that bad, just put in a tablespoon or two, wait 5 minutes and chug it down. The little blobs just float around the glass.

There are often sufficient gelatinous blobs in AZ water sources without adding more. ;)

flagscott wrote:The advice to drink as much as you can (like to the point of nausea) is potentially dangerous. Excessive water intake while you are exerting yourself and sweating can lead to hyponatremia

Glad that you pointed this out. It's all about balance. You also need to consider food. Are you carrying the weight so that you don't have to re-hydrate your food? On dry sections this is often a good solution. Or, are you carrying dehydrated foods that will need extra water to hydrate? Carry salt packets with you also. They are lightweight and are good to have on hand. As suggested in previous posts, if you haven't hiked in the desert, put in some day or overnight miles to sort out hydration. In the end, you'll be happy you did.

I carry three liters and always camel up at water sources. Really depends on the person, the distance daily, where you camp and a lot of other things however. I also use Nunn tablets

Well my . I hike yesterday with Linda at just 9 miles and today just about 9.5 miles. I did not drink any water either day. Actually I hardly drink water hiking I just don't see to get thirsty. Now Rowdy has no problem drinking water. Now I always carry plenty of water and have gave water to other people in need.
I am just not sure why I don't get thirsty hiking.

@Widowmaker
If I recall, you're mainly a dayhiker, so you probably make up for it by consuming more water before and after. Backpacking gets the whole answer pretty quick. You can maybe skimp on the trail and get away with it (usually at a cost), but you'll make up for it at dinner or breakfast. Even backpacking you can shortchange yourself up to a liter a day for one or two days, but I don't know anyone who went beyond that without real suffering or worse. Unfortunately, I know several people who became seriously ill from dehydration, including one who died.