Tuxachanie Trail Water Notes

Water's everywhere along the Tux, but not all of it is convenient, nor do you want to even dip you filter in some of it.  Here's a rough guide to where and what, starting at the Hwy 49 trailhead.

• The pond 100 yards from the trailhead is pretty, but it's downstream from a popular bathroom break spot.  Yuck.  But that close to the trailhead, do you need to be gathering water anyway?
• Between mile markers 1 and 5, there's an OK-to-very-good creek about every mile or so.  No worries there.
• At Airey Lake (~5-1/2 miles in), there's a potable water faucet.  Easy!
• Copeland Spring just after mm 6 is a little off the path, but probably OK.  Still need to filter it.
• Between mm's 7 & 8 there's a bridge over an OK little stream.  That's the last good water until about mm 11, where you can get down to Tuxachanie Creek itself.
• Duck Pond near mm 9 might be OK in a pinch, but it is still water and kind of green.
• All of the mud holes near the horse trails should probably be avoided, if possible.
• Once you hit Tuxachanie creek near mm 11, you've got it made all the way to the P.O.W. camp.

In general, in cool weather I'm finding that it takes 1 liter to get from Hwy 49 to Airey Lake, and 2 liters to get from Airey Lake to the P.O.W. Camp.  If you just want to section/day hike without a filter, an out-and-back from either end will get you to Airey Lake and its potable water faucet.

In any case, think ahead a little so that you don't have to drink from the mud puddles near the horse trails.  And as always, follow the CDC guidelines and filter then disinfect.  I wrote a short bit on this a while back that's full of links here; in two years I haven't had any problems following this filter-then-disinfect routine.

Two liters of Tuxachanie's Finest.

ps/note to self: 2 liters of containers is enough for the hike, but it's not enough when in camp.  Evening takes a liter, morning takes a liter, and a little extra margin would be nice.  Then you have to filter up another couple of liters when starting out the next morning, which adds 20 minutes to the get-on-the-trail time.  Next time out, use a camelbak bladder, or carry a couple of smartwater bottles, or something.  5 liters in camp isn't too much to have, and counting set-up time it's nearly as fast to filter 5 liters as 2.  So bring more containers next time.