A spring on the map is not a spring in July. Water reports are how thru-hikers tell each other what's actually flowing — and a good report is worth its weight in carried water.

Read the date first

A report from three weeks ago is old news. Flows drop fast in the heat, so weigh recent reports most, and treat anything older than a week as a guess.

Carry the dry stretch

If the next two sources are dry, you're carrying water for thirty miles. That's ten extra pounds. Better to know now than at the dry creek.