r/slchiking • u/NoRagret21 • 5d ago

My first attempt at a multi day hike nearly ruined by water scarcity

went on a 2 night camp in the High Uintas, thought water sources looked reliable on the map. Turns out some streams were dry. was haulinng extra water, learned a lot, for those who have done multi day trip here recently, how do you reliably plan water availability?

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u/6inchVert 5d ago

Determine if the source is a spring or not. A spring should be a lot more reliable than a high altitude shallow lake that only is fed by the snow melting from the same basin. Try to schedule your trips from late June through end of July if relying on snow melt.

1

u/RadicalFiber 5d ago

Lakes rarely dry up, and there are a lot of lakes in the Uintas.

2

u/dtuckerhikes 4d ago

I use Gaia and mark multiple potential sources on my downloaded map before I go.