The Trek: Water, the Search for Delicious Across the Desert
The Trek: Water, the Search for Delicious Across the Desert
YouTube video highlight
Let's discuss water, one of the basic principles of survival.
Read more about the projectThe Trek: Water, the Search for Delicious Across the Desert
Water, the Search for Delicious Across the Desert
One of the reasons why I love backpacking is because walking from point A to B with all your essentials on your back simplifies life to its basic level. Each day all I need to do is walk and make three decisions. That’s it. Just three decisions:
Where will I get water?
Where will I sleep?
What will I eat?
In the next three posts I’d like to focus on each one of these basic principles of survival. Let’s start with water- the driver of everything in the arid and desert sections of Southern California.
Water is essential each day for hydration, cooking and cleaning. As hikers, we determine daily mileage, next destinations, the time of day when we will hike, and what we will eat based completely on the availability of water. We always know exactly how much we are carrying and how much we will need per mile on trail.
I generally drink one liter of water for every four miles, but that can vary widely if the terrain is uphill or the mercury is rising. I’ve already had a couple close calls where I underestimated my consumption and had some long, hot miles getting to the next water source.
On the PCT, and most other long trails, hikers use a GPS app called FarOut which pinpoints with extreme accuracy our location and the location of water sources near the trail. Then hikers leave up-to-date comments describing the flow and ease of filling our water bottles each day. Using the GPS and the comments, I can be assured to find water if it exists.
Water, the Search for Delicious Across the Desert
One of the reasons why I love backpacking is because walking from point A to B with all your essentials on your back simplifies life to its basic level. Each day all I need to do is walk and make three decisions. That’s it. Just three decisions:
Where will I get water?
Where will I sleep?
What will I eat?
In the next three posts I’d like to focus on each one of these basic principles of survival. Let’s start with water- the driver of everything in the arid and desert sections of Southern California.
Water is essential each day for hydration, cooking and cleaning. As hikers, we determine daily mileage, next destinations, the time of day when we will hike, and what we will eat based completely on the availability of water. We always know exactly how much we are carrying and how much we will need per mile on trail.
I generally drink one liter of water for every four miles, but that can vary widely if the terrain is uphill or the mercury is rising. I’ve already had a couple close calls where I underestimated my consumption and had some long, hot miles getting to the next water source.
On the PCT, and most other long trails, hikers use a GPS app called FarOut which pinpoints with extreme accuracy our location and the location of water sources near the trail. Then hikers leave up-to-date comments describing the flow and ease of filling our water bottles each day. Using the GPS and the comments, I can be assured to find water if it exists.
Water, the Search for Delicious Across the Desert
One of the reasons why I love backpacking is because walking from point A to B with all your essentials on your back simplifies life to its basic level. Each day all I need to do is walk and make three decisions. That’s it. Just three decisions:
Where will I get water?
Where will I sleep?
What will I eat?
In the next three posts I’d like to focus on each one of these basic principles of survival. Let’s start with water- the driver of everything in the arid and desert sections of Southern California.
Water is essential each day for hydration, cooking and cleaning. As hikers, we determine daily mileage, next destinations, the time of day when we will hike, and what we will eat based completely on the availability of water. We always know exactly how much we are carrying and how much we will need per mile on trail.
I generally drink one liter of water for every four miles, but that can vary widely if the terrain is uphill or the mercury is rising. I’ve already had a couple close calls where I underestimated my consumption and had some long, hot miles getting to the next water source.
On the PCT, and most other long trails, hikers use a GPS app called FarOut which pinpoints with extreme accuracy our location and the location of water sources near the trail. Then hikers leave up-to-date comments describing the flow and ease of filling our water bottles each day. Using the GPS and the comments, I can be assured to find water if it exists.
Popular posts
Recent articles
Other categories
You might also like
Media Mentions
43.2% of hikers used the Sawyer Squeeze, the most common hollow membrane squeeze filter (and the most common water treatment overall).
Media Mentions
Randy Patton’s late father, Biff Patton, launched the water filter program in 2010.
Media Mentions
The most significant being its positive impact on our health after using it, its capacity to reduce our expenses on water treatment and access to safe water, and the time it saves by eliminating the need for boiling or treating water.
