TIL the hard way that water sources marked on a map can be totally dry by July

I planned a 5 day loop in the Sierra Nevada last summer based on a map from 2018 that showed three creek crossings and a seasonal spring. By day 3 I was down to half a liter and the next marked water was a bone dry wash. Turns out I should have checked recent trip reports instead of just the map. Took me about 6 hours of backtracking and detouring to find a sketchy puddle. Has anyone else had a map totally fail them like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_miles25d ago

Yeah I read somewhere that those older maps are getting real unreliable with the droughts and all.

the_beth25d ago

Oh man tell me about it, my grandpa's old fishing map led me straight into a dried up creek bed last summer.