No Water at Amicalola this weekend

[Lnj]

I'm doing the approach trail and however far we can get on the AT by Monday afternoon, with my daughter this weekend. We are set to arrive at the visitor center at 9am Saturday. I called the visitor center and they said the approach trail is totally dry right now. We will have to carry water for 3 days. The weather looks nice, low 80s to high 50s.

About how much water should we each carry, assuming there will be not a drop gained from start to finish? My knee-jerk thought would be about 2liters per day, but man.... We'll end up carrying 80# packs if we do that and I'm not sure either one of us is up to that. This will be my daughter's first time out overnight and she is 17.

Please advise...

[Uncle Joe]

It's not going to take you 3 days to do the Approach. The Approach is about 8.8mi. Someone can chime in on whether there is actually water available or not but I doubt it's totally dry all the way to Springer. But once you cross the road at the Springer parking lot you start heading towards Three Forks and you'll have Stover Creek as a source before you even get there. So about 12mi into your hike you should have plenty of water.

[Hotgin]

I just left springer Friday and there was water available by the shelter

[Lnj]

It's not going to take you 3 days to do the Approach. The Approach is about 8.8mi. Someone can chime in on whether there is actually water available or not but I doubt it's totally dry all the way to Springer. But once you cross the road at the Springer parking lot you start heading towards Three Forks and you'll have Stover Creek as a source before you even get there. So about 12mi into your hike you should have plenty of water.

LOL!!! Bless your heart... you don't know me... yes, it may very well take me 3 days to get to Springer. I am fat and ridiculously slow. Plus, I will have a first timer with me and I promised not to try to kill her. So we are going to just poke along and smell the flowers and giggle and joke and play and walk and talk and eat and fiddle fart along until we get tired and spot a campsite. This is not an official start to an AT section hike. This is a mommy/daughter weekend fun introduction hike.

But thank you for enlightening me that on the last day I will reach water. I truly hope there is a spring or creek or something somewhere sooner though. I just don't relish carrying 2+ days of water from the start. I'd still like to know a good rule of thumb for how much to carry per day, assuming there is none elsewhere along the way.

[zachzz12]

the hike inn trail had 3 flowing creeks before reaching the hike inn(5.5 miles) on Thursday afternoon last week. ...
we were advised to take the hike inn trail due to the approach trail being dry.
the springer mountain shelter has water and stove creek after that
..

i cant vouch for the approach trail but the hike inn had plenty of water. It is a beautiful time to hike have fun! ( not nearly as hot as expected, we didn't have any rain either contrary to other posts).


Hawk mountain shelter was a great stay, and then leave the trail at hightower gap , could work for you

Have a great time, it was our first time out there, loved it

HYOH

[FreeGoldRush]

This may be a good time to ask: Is there even a slight chance of not finding water between Woody Gap and the tenting areas at Lance Creek? Apparently there are four tent pads there. If they are taken can I assume there is more room there for tenting?

By the way, two liters of water per day would never be enough for me in hot weather. I can't imagine having to carry three days of water. That's rather extreme.

And finally, I assume you can camp anywhere on the Georgia section of the trail without a permit. Is this correct?

[daddytwosticks]

On a hot and humid summer day, I can drink two liters of water easy before lunchtime while hiking.

[Uncle Joe]

This may be a good time to ask: Is there even a slight chance of not finding water between Woody Gap and the tenting areas at Lance Creek? Apparently there are four tent pads there. If they are taken can I assume there is more room there for tenting?

By the way, two liters of water per day would never be enough for me in hot weather. I can't imagine having to carry three days of water. That's rather extreme.

And finally, I assume you can camp anywhere on the Georgia section of the trail without a permit. Is this correct?

No permits needed.

The guide book shows 2 springs between Woody and Lance Creek so there's a chance they could be dry. That said, you shouldn't run out of water in 4mi and I'd imaging Lance Creek should be flowing but I haven't been up there in some time and can't remember how big it was.

[MuddyWaters]

I

About how much water should we each carry, assuming there will be not a drop gained from start to finish? My knee-jerk thought would be about 2liters per day, but man.... We'll end up carrying 80# packs if we do that and I'm not sure either one of us is up to that. Please advise...

Perhaps u meant 2 gallons/day?

Just for future reference, you would plan 4-5 L per day in moderate conditions. In very hot.....maybe 6-8 or more. To reduce this you resort to hiking at night in hot dry conditions.

So going 2 days without a drop of water really isn't a good plan.

[Lnj]

On a hot and humid summer day, I can drink two liters of water easy before lunchtime while hiking.

So a gallon a day then? Yep, it'll be an 80lb pack. Does anyone know of an alternative? We really want to do this trail. Maybe going comically slow will help with less of a need for water, as we shouldn't get quite so hot and sweaty as we would if we were really moving.

[Lnj]

Perhaps u meant 2 gallons/day?

Just for future reference, you would plan 4-5 L per day in moderate conditions. In very hot.....maybe 6-8 or more. To reduce this you resort to hiking at night in hot dry conditions.

So going 2 days without a drop of water really isn't a good plan.

Oh no... going an hour even without water was never part of the plan!!! Just trying to figure out how much to carry in from home, with the assumption that we can't camel up along the way to Springer. I know there will be water after the Springer summit, but we could feasibly hike 4 or 5 miles on Saturday and camp, then it would be Sunday afternoon before we reach Springer, so I would need to carry water for 2 days from the start.... which would be 8 liters at least....

Oh well... it's fine. We are both vampire slayers so... we can take it. She may never want to hike again but... we will survive.

[Hikingjim]

Oh no... going an hour even without water was never part of the plan!!! Just trying to figure out how much to carry in from home, with the assumption that we can't camel up along the way to Springer. I know there will be water after the Springer summit, but we could feasibly hike 4 or 5 miles on Saturday and camp, then it would be Sunday afternoon before we reach Springer, so I would need to carry water for 2 days from the start.... which would be 8 liters at least....

Oh well... it's fine. We are both vampire slayers so... we can take it. She may never want to hike again but... we will survive.

Can't comment on the water situation, but if there really won't be any water, I would bring 5L per person for that stretch and get to springer in 2 days.
drink 1L before you leave
2 L while hiking your first 4-5 mile
1 L each for saturday night cooking and drinking
2 L for your hike sunday.
drink more at springer.

[zachzz12]

hike inn trail has water and you wont have to worry about it, they start at same point and meet up after 6 miles

[Hikingjim]

Oh no... going an hour even without water was never part of the plan!!! Just trying to figure out how much to carry in from home, with the assumption that we can't camel up along the way to Springer. I know there will be water after the Springer summit, but we could feasibly hike 4 or 5 miles on Saturday and camp, then it would be Sunday afternoon before we reach Springer, so I would need to carry water for 2 days from the start.... which would be 8 liters at least....

Oh well... it's fine. We are both vampire slayers so... we can take it. She may never want to hike again but... we will survive.

Also, to keep your pack weight down, eat a lot for breakfast before you go and you won't need that much food for the 1.5-2 days

[Uncle Joe]

Another thought since you're local, drive up Nimblewill Gap Road and stash some water where the AT crosses. Then you know you have some there.

[Lnj]

Another thought since you're local, drive up Nimblewill Gap Road and stash some water where the AT crosses. Then you know you have some there.

Now THATS what I am talking about!!!! Excellent Idea!!! THANK YOU!! I hadn't even thought if that. That exactly what I will do!

[JC13]

I was carrying 4 litres in July and was averaging 8 litres a day. Wife had 3 litres in her bladder and was probably going through 6.

[Lnj]

Also, to keep your pack weight down, eat a lot for breakfast before you go and you won't need that much food for the 1.5-2 days

That is true. We will be eating a good breakfast at the Maple Restaurant at Amicalola before we get started so, that should hold us for a good while.

[maptester]

Last I read was Woody Gap was dry--3.2 mile to Lance Creek, should be flowing--and plenty of space pass the 4 pads (I tented on the top pad with a huge thunderstorm during the night--lots of water then :-) ). Also, no permits needed in GA. Happy trails.

[Hotgin]

I just left Unicoi gap this morning .... The driest patch was about an 8 mile stretch out of Neels Gap....I carried 4 liters and never ran out between water spots from Amicalola to Unicoi... Ron Brown has been hustling to put water out along the trail at various gaps... He keeps his Facebook updated with the latest Intel from hikers... Hope this helps