Water Capacity for 2014 April 16th Thru Hike

That sounds like almost 5 liters, not 7 (2 x 1.4L + 2 x 1L = 4.8L).

I'm starting on the PCT around the same time and I'm planning on 10L capacity for my wife and I (4 x 2L platy + 2 x 1L bottle). This is certainly on the low side though and possibly too aggressive.

Had to look it up. http://bucktrack.com/PCT_Gear_List.html

I honestly don't remember how far the max distance to carry water was. My carrying capacity was plenty, though, and I rarely filled them all up. The only times I had to push the miles were the times where I knowingly cut it a little close by not taking as much water as I could have. YMMV.

A major strategic point which you've alluded to is to not get behind the curve in hydration. No need to overdo it, just stay fully hydrated. It will give you a considerable buffer.

I am starting April 18th this year and will have a 6 capacity.

Also depends on ambient temperature. Everyone is different.

Actually its (x2) 2.4Liter platypus bladders. NOT 1.4l. Typo! Sorry. So it seems like having 6.8L capacity seems like within the realm of the other answers i've gotten. Cool. Im super excited. My buddy is coming too. Looking forward to seeing you people out there.

Darwin

Usually we find 4 PET 1.25 L rocket bottles is enough for the two of us. On very special occasions I have taken a 5th bottle. They are lighter than most anything else except for a clean wine-skin – which I have also used.

It does depend extremly on day-time temperature.

Chers

In a normal year I'd suggest 6 liter capacity, though of course that depends on you and various other factors. Do you like to avoid using cache's or do you just take all you need at cache's? Do you follow the thru-hiker mantra of "tank up and camel up" at sources, perhaps stopping for a mid-day snooze near a water source and then hiking into the evening on hotter days? Do you start the trail in decent hiking shape so you can do the miles the very first day (Hauser will surely be dry …) ?

I personally suggest platypus or similar bladders for extra capacity. Some talk about these getting leaks due to "needles in the desert"; my personal theory on that is that folks that report that problem are storing bladders in the side mesh of their packs.

In a dry year, I might want to take 8 liters of capacity. Any more than 8 liters needed and I'd start serious thinking about some night hiking instead of loading up that heavy.

To all potential PCT hikers,
Unless we start getting rain here in SOCAL soon, you'll be carrying a lot more than usual maybe up to two gallons. We are in an emergency drought situation. Most of the seasonal springs and creeks are dry and the sierras may not be much better. It's not just that the creeks are dry but when high daytime temps and low humidity combine it sucks the life out of everything.
Forget about any kind of open flame or campfires. What hasn't already burned in recent years is a tinderbox just waiting for a spark. Last summer smoking outdoors was banned in most all of the parks in California and this year looks to be dryer.
Good luck,
Mulestomper
3rd gate water casher, San Diego Trail Angel and PCT hiker since 2004

My wife and I are planning to do a PCT thru hike as well this year.

I had been hoping for a dry year, but things are getting a little ridiculous at this point, and I'm now hoping for at least a little more rain. SoCal needs it badly right now. I believe this is one of the driest years on record for much of Southern and Central California.

The water situation in SoCal has me very worried, same as all of you other thru-hiking hopefuls. My wife and I might not be able to start until June, in which case we would begin at Kennedy Meadows. Maybe that would be a blessing in disguise considering the water situation in SoCal. Still, I have trouble believing the SoCal PCT would be very passable in October if we wanted to flip back down to finish the whole trail in one season. That option might be off the table if we have to start in June, but who knows?

The weather could still turn around, I suppose, but things don't look to be going in that direction as it stands.

Having thru-hiked last year starting May 19th (well behind the pack) with a Sierra snow load of about 17% of normal (about what this year is looking to be) I had a max capacity of 6 Liters and was simply glad to have the ability to carry that much if needed. I ALMOST NEVER CARRIED MORE THAN 6 LITERS, but I was also hiking fast, taking the heat of the day off to sleep, and hydrating at each water stop. I you plan your hydration needs right, you'll be just fine. Sometimes if I was unsure how much water I needed on a stretch I'd simply bring 6 Liters to start, and give away the water that I didn't think I'd end up using (rarely done, but better safe than sorry).

FYI: I also did SoCal in 30 days (Starting May 19th and June 19th arriving at Kennedy Meadows) so if you're hiking a slower pace, you're water needs may be different then mine. I LOVED having electrolyte capsules with me (HAMMER ENDUROLYTES) and some CHIA seeds just in case.

Devin,

What you need more than a water capacity is a water strategy. Having a water strategy means learning how to hike in reasonable comfort through areas that are hot with long dry sections. This means knowing when to hike, when to rest, when to start in the morning, when to stop at night, how to cook, when to cook, what to eat and when, how to dry camp, etc.

You'll be starting early ahead of the crowd. Which is good for getting water from the various caches. However, if you've not already developed a water strategy, it'll be harder to join up someone else and learn.

If you can, I'd try to get back to the Kickoff and attend the water seminar. At the least you'll want to bookmark the water report on the web. If you're carrying a smart phone, you'll want to update it to the latest report every time you hit town.

There are plenty of opportunities to add or remove water capacity at the various stores you'll pass. Developing a functioning water strategy is not so simple.

I started on April 17th in 2009. I carried 6L when leaving the border at 2pm as Hauser Creek (the only source before Lake Morena) was bone dry. I ran out about 1.5 hours from Lake Morena the next day. It isn't just the raw distance you need to consider but how far you can hike in a day in heat and just how hot it is. I had the ability to carry 6-7L of water for Socal though I more often carried only 4.5L.

I'd plan my day around the PCT water report and tried to always have a little extra. I never depended fully on a water cache. I might top up at one, but in case it was empty I always had enough to safely get to the next source though I might have been thirsty. In fact, in place of some of the water caches, there are alternatives though they may involve hiking a little ways off trail or having to hitch into a town at a road that you didn't intend stopping at.

if the day was very hot, rather then hiking in the heat and having to drink a lot of water as a result, I'd stop around 11am and rest until about 3pm before continuing on. As I only cook 1 meal of the day and eat cold the other meals, I would use that long break to cook my so-called dinner for lunch and then nap away as I digested it. That allowed my dinner later to be quick as I wanted to maximize the last few hours of light to hike in as the temperatures are dropping. I'd get up at the first sign of light and be on the trail before dawn to try to get in as many miles as I could before it got hot. After taking my mid-day break, I'd hike until it got almost dark. I find that I hike much faster when its cool so I adjusted my day to take advantage of it. If I knew a section was going to be hot and no shade available, I occasionally did some night hiking. I'd hike into the night until 10pm or so or I would get up at 3-3:30am and hike in the dark until the sun came up inorder to try to hike through the area before it got hot.

You can adjust how much carrying capacity you have from section to section as you can buy a few drink bottles in a town when you need more and throw them away when you no longer need them.