Water On Stairs Col Trail And Davis Path

I've never taken Stairs Col Trail before and there is mention of crossing a headwall brook in the AMC Guide at about 1.5 miles. Given how dry it has been and how low all the brooks are I'm wondering if that crossing is reliable for filling/filtering water. Has anyone been out there recently?

Also, there is mention of a small spring on Davis Path about 2.1 miles from Stairs Col Trail/Davis Path junction and a small brook about 2.5 miles from same junction. I'm operating under the assumption that those will be dry and unusable. Yes?

Would prefer to get those first 3.5 miles or so with little to no water and then tank up but the dry conditions have me concerned. If anyone has been in the area of late and can provide the brook status it would be appreciated. Thanks.

Stairs Col Trail is lovely and the brook at 1.5 usually runs. I would be surprised if it were dry.

The brook on the Davis Path at the 2.1 from Stairs is much more unreliable and I would not count on using it.

In the same neighborhood, there is a fairly reliable water source downstream from the former site of the Resolution Shelter.

Oh my, you're spending a lot of time in my neck of the woods! Enjoy!

wardsgirl said:

Stairs Col Trail is lovely and the brook at 1.5 usually runs. I would be surprised if it were dry.

The brook on the Davis Path at the 2.1 from Stairs is much more unreliable and I would not count on using it.

In the same neighborhood, there is a fairly reliable water source downstream from the former site of the Resolution Shelter.

Oh my, you're spending a lot of time in my neck of the woods! Enjoy!

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Thanks. Been on a "wilderness" kick the past few months trying to get away from the massive crowds.

On the Willey Range Sunday and water levels were quite low. The last brook crossing on the A-Z on the way up to Tom was dry enough a couple looked like they were thinking it might have been the trail up. They deferred to me passing them and then followed me. I'd probably plan on carrying all my water needs unless I was going to be near large brooks or anything with River in it's name.

Saco River Discharge shows things are pretty dry. The Merrimack down by me is very shallow and very slow right now.

Tim

Similar story on Lincoln Brook Trail - all the crossing were super easy.

I did a big loop FRI from Signal Ridge trail head out Carrigain Notch, Shoal Pond Tr, Ethan Pond, Thoreau Falls , Wilderness Trail and back. Literally half of the smaller brooks were bone dry and many areas I assume are usually pretty wet were no problem. The shores of Shoal Pond was 10-15' of gravel (which maybe is normal - was my first time there) and the normally problematic crossing at top of Thoreau Falls was a piece of cake. Even the main rivers were as low as I can recall seeing them. I specifically wanted to check out that bridge they are going to remove because I had never seen it. That crossing would have been no problem today a little upstream from the bridge. The East Branch Pemi gauge for the day was only 55 cfs.

Are we near record low levels? Haven't hiked as long as many here but I don't remember such low water levels. Need some rain.

Just for the record the 5-6 brook crossings on Stairs Col trail Saturday were damp or dry. Some of them had some small sketchy pools in them with water bugs but no flow. Before starting the steep part of the climb you could see and hear the water flowing down in the ravine so in a pinch you could bushwhack down the steep bank and get water. The two crossings on Davis Path roughly two miles from Stairs Mtn spur were similar, although the second one had a trickle of flow and a few clear pools deep enough to fill a pouch or a Nalgene. Glad I decided to carry water in from the get go.

Hoping to make the Davis Path trip to Isolation this weekend. I was hoping to fill up water at the old Resolution shelter site. Has anyone been there in the last few days? Leaning towards hauling water from the trailhead. Thanks.

Kyle D said:

Hoping to make the Davis Path trip to Isolation this weekend. I was hoping to fill up water at the old Resolution shelter site. Has anyone been there in the last few days? Leaning towards hauling water from the trailhead. Thanks.

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I'll be in that area this weekend, too. FWIW, I'm leaning toward carrying all the water I need.

Anxious to see if anyone replies...

wardsgirl said:

I'll be in that area this weekend, too. FWIW, I'm leaning toward carrying all the water I need.

Anxious to see if anyone replies...

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Been nearly two weeks since I was in the area and it was dry then. Been hardly any rain since so I'd count on nothing on route. I'd carry it in. I would also be curious to know about the Resolution site. If it has water now it should be deemed highly reliable.

Thanks, DayTrip, I think you're right about calling it 'highly reliable' if it has water.

Hey Kyle D, let me know if you want to do some creative car-spotting.

Fresh info!

There are pools of water on Stairs Col Trail at the usual crossing, about a half mile downhill from Davis Path.

I did not go down to Resolution Shelter, so I cannot confirm that there is water there.

However, there is plentiful water on the Mt. Parker Trail, about a half mile from the Davis Path- and a much more scenic and easy hike than going down Stairs Col and back!