PDA

View Full Version : Water in Mt Rogers NRA in July



Tex81
06-23-2011, 21:09
I'm planning a week long hike in the Mt Rogers NRA in about a week, starting at Massie Gap, probably looping the AT and the IMT. Anyone familiar with the water conditions in the area this time of year? Any shelters or campsites that are marked as having water but are dry? Also, if there's anyone particularly familiar with the area with any pearls or wisdom (places to see or avoid, scenic views, etc), I'm all ears.

Bearpaw
06-24-2011, 11:56
I've hike a Damascus-Mt. Rogers-IMT loop the last couple of years in late June and early July.

Obviously, the amount of seasonal rain will affect the water flow. This year seems to have been rainier than usual in the southeast.

What I have found is that the springs listed have always been pretty decent flowing, even in years when the rain was a bit less than usual. On the IMT, plan your water for the shelters. All three have flowed well when I visited. At AT shelters, the springs have flowed well also. Other springs were slow to good, such as the one near the connector trail midway between the Crest and Pine Mountain Trail. There is also an excellent spring .1 miles off of Deep Gap.

It might help to check out my trip reports from last year: Mt. Rogers->Damascus Report (http://hikinghq.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5641&highlight=rogers) & IMT Report (http://hikinghq.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5642&highlight=imt).

Bearpaw
06-24-2011, 12:00
Sorry, think I may have sent you broken links in the last post. Try these: Mt. Rogers (http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19269) & IMT (http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19270). Sorry I couldn't find you the trip reports here on WB. With the software downgrade, the search function won't bring them up.

Tex81
06-29-2011, 04:51
Thanks Bearpaw, good info. I enjoyed your trip reports. I'm headed out next week, and can't wait.

Corrigan
07-01-2011, 20:49
I did the IMT north out of Damascus to the AT and back to Damascus last week. Water was no problem, however I would bring a cup to scoop with if you are not using a pump. Most were flowing great but 2 that I recall were pretty weak...plenty of water....just weak. The IMT was nothing special in my opinion but still worth the walk. The trail was nice and easy to walk, I also saw quite a bit of wildlife there. I was under the impression there would be some views but I didn't see any. Walking out of Damascus was great.....free parking at the parking lot next to the post office and everyone in town was real cool. Enjoy your trip!

bflorac
07-01-2011, 23:01
Just finished section hike from Damascus to Woodshole Hostel. You may not be going that far but we found no water at Jenny Knob Shelter and most unmarked (unreliable) water sources seem to be dry in the higher elevations.

30 Large
07-02-2011, 09:03
I did a trip up at Mt Rogers recently. As of last week, along the AT, Thomas Knob was pretty low flowing but there was water at the spring, two springs along the Crest trail were dry, Old Orchard was excellent (very cold too!)