Dry Stretches of Water resupply

[Megapixel]

Can anyone point out long, dry stretches of water resupply during a typical nobo thru hike? Any stretches that are guaranteed to be long between sources? I know it can depend on rain and that word spreads on the trail in most cases in situations like this, but it would be good to know and highlight in the guidebook for advanced notice.

In a related note the AT Guide is using a spring symbol for water sources and one that is less thanhalf shaded in for questionable sources, which should prove helpful too. Not sure if that was in the 2011 version.

[fiddlehead]

Lehigh gap north, in PA is the only problem I ever had on the AT with water.
If you are NOBO, you will be walking through spring rains so, not normally a problem
Like you said: You'll know.
You'll either walk past seeps and springs, or, they'll be dry. (in which case it will be something to worry about)

In July and August, you may have to go further down the mountain to find a seep that's running.
That's a reason why many NOBO'ers hate PA.
Shelter registers are the best way of finding out what's coming up.

[garlic08]

Fiddlehead's comment exactly mirrors my experience. A few times I had to keep an eye open for a spring below the trail a bit and I almost always found one when needed.

Too much water is what comes to my mind to describe my AT hike. I often carried none at all.

[Blissful]

Drier areas (which can very greatly on your hike, depending on the season of your hike and any drought) is PA, NY and then there are the beaver pond areas of lower Vermont. Use the hiker grapevine to help. I had water issues SOBO in MA also. But I did PA in the spring and everything was flowing like mad. If it gets real hot though, you can find waer an issue in some places in the Blue Ridge in VA. You never know.

[Thenixon]

Yeah, the places you run dry will vary from year to year. I hit northern PA at 108 degrees this past summer, and without help it would have been... well it still was awful, but at least I got a day in A/C to recover. Good news is, locals know what is up, and during long, hot stretches, trail magic water is more likely. When it was dry, I planned extra town runs to fully rehydrate and take advantage of those wonderful municipal water systems.