Water at Ski Hut (Baldy Bowl)?

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:11 pm

any recent info on water flow in the stream at the ski hut on the ski hut trail?

i see there are snakes, but no mention of water.

Zach · Post by **Zach** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:39 pm

i was up there a week ago and the stream was flowing nicely.

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:02 pm

The spring below the hut and the creek beside the hut had a good flow on October 17. The spring water does not need filtering. We have been drinking it straight for years.

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:27 pm

RichardK wrote:The spring below the hut and the creek beside the hut had a good flow on October 17. The spring water does not need filtering. We have been drinking it straight for years.

thanks to you both for the info.

i know where the stream is. i'm not familiar with where i'd find the spring - or do you consider the stream to be as cootie free as the spring?

and without any cattle above that location or any outside chance of gross human waste contaminating, i really can't see the need to filter.

i try to drink wisely. and would have no concerns not filtering - unless you know something i don't.

thanks again.

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:29 pm

A few hundred feet before reaching the Ski Hut, a spring flows across the trail in two places. The first is pretty thin, but the second has a good flow coming out of a small pile of rocks on the right side of the trail going up. The second is where we refill. I don't mind drinking water that comes out of a rock face. I am a bit concerned about drinking untreated water from any open creek. After all, does a bear poop in the woods? Well, yes! If the Ski Hut is open, you can get water inside. A spring further uphill is piped into the hut (day use fee $1). However, the hut seems to be open only about half of the time.

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 5:19 pm

RichardK wrote:A few hundred feet before reaching the Ski Hut, a spring flows across the trail in two places.

silly me, i had forgotten about those. i guess i was thinking they were a creek? like i said, silly me!
thanks for the clarification.

asbufra · Post by **asbufra** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:50 pm

Isn't there an outhouse about 250 feet "uphill" from that spring?

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:00 am

asbufra wrote:Isn't there an outhouse about 250 feet "uphill" from that spring?

So that's why the water has that whang.

Yeah, there is an outhouse up there, but I have drunk gallons from that spring at this point without ill effect.

hvydrt · Post by **hvydrt** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:53 am

asbufra wrote:Isn't there an outhouse about 250 feet "uphill" from that spring?

Yes. I never drink water from the stream below the crapper. Always fill up at the steam just past the hut. It comes out of the ground 50 feet or so up stream.

asbufra · Post by **asbufra** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:53 pm

If you look closely the second spring (closer to the Ski Hut) comes out of a pipe. A hiker told me the pipe was a remnant of hydraulic mining activity; I have no reason to doubt Him. That pipe must be well over 100 years old which is kind of cool.
I am no expert but it sounds like both sources are good drinkable water. If I need water I always take it from the stream past the hut, with no ill effects.

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 11:25 am

asbufra wrote:If I need water I always take it from the stream past the hut, with no ill effects.

in looking at the site yesterday - 10.31.2009 - i couldn't determine if the lowest spring is in the same drainage as the ski hut outhouse. the upper spring = there is no doubt it is directly below the ski hut outhouse.
i chose to fill up at the stream alongside the hut - it was flowing quite freely.
the uppermost spring was flowing more freely in the afternoon. the lower didn't seem to change.

glamisking · Post by **glamisking** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:35 pm

I always assumed the pipe was the water flowing out of the hut sink. But thinking about it now is the flow from the pipe too great to be coming out of the facet above?

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:28 am

i don't recall ever not seeing water in the creek at the ski hut, but recent reports don't mention water at all.

is it possible to fill up there now?

thanks.

asbufra · Post by **asbufra** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:13 am

There was lots of water last weekend. I doubt it dried up over the week.

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:01 am

asbufra wrote:There was lots of water last weekend. I doubt it dried up over the week.

thank you so much for your response. saves me from carrying extra poundage.

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:29 pm

We were at the Ski Hut today (Aug. 21). The spring below the hut and the creek at the hut had great flows.

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 9:55 am

RichardK wrote:We were at the Ski Hut today (Aug. 21). The spring below the hut and the creek at the hut had great flows.

hey, RichardK, thanks for the up-to-the-minute report! great news.

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:22 pm

los padres is dry, dry and dry.

and with temps to be over 100, looking to come down your way.

any recent info would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

Phil B · Post by **Phil B** » Sun Sep 30, 2012 11:53 am

As of Saturday(9/29/2012) there was still water flow from the stream at the Ski Hut, there was also water flow from the little streams just below the Hut, but I would wait until you get to the Ski Hut to filter your drinking water.

Phil

Post by **Taco** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:56 am

I don't mean to take this off-topic, but maybe I'm misunderstanding something.

I have never filtered the water in or around the ski hut. I drink straight out of that stream nearly every time I'm there.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:51 am

I've never felt the need to filter there either. There have been no reports of illness that I'm aware of.

HJ

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:56 pm

We never filter the water from the springs just below the hut. No problems, ever.

Post by **HikeUp** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:24 pm

I think there is confusion as to what location "below the hut" refers to.

I notice that as you are hiking up the ski hut trail to the ski hut you pass one (sometimes two) locations on the trail where water actually is seeping (sometimes flowing) across the trail (this point is actually marked as a spring on the topo maps). This is within view of the hut - a few minutes of hiking full speed. A single step will get you across these spots. I would never touch these myself because they are literally downhill from the shit house located uphill from this location and next to the ski hut.

Then the next water spot is at the point on the trail where you have to go right to get to the hut or left to continue up the trail towards the bowl. Go right and you get to the hut. Go left and you have to cross a flowing stream of water. This is the water I would most likely drink if I needed it and I would probably not filter it. I think upstream from this point is where the faucet inside the hut is sourced (just a guess). I personally don't think of this spot as "below the hut" but would understand "just before you get to the hut".

I could be wrong. I always carry enough Pasadena water anyways.

Post by **Taco** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 6:20 am

Yeah, I never drink out of the water below the shithouse, just the actual San Antonio Creek just west of the Hut. 8)

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:57 am

HikeUp wrote: ↑ I always carry enough Pasadena water anyways.

Dude! Are you crazy? That stuff will kill you.

Rumor has it that the "spring" before the hut is actually the outflow of what comes out of the spigot inside the hut, in which case it should be fairly clean (assuming the outhouse has been properly emplaced and isn't leaching).

HJ

Post by **JeffH** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 4:26 pm

Considering the usage I would not count on the outhouse not leaking at least a little. Plus it's really not that much further to get the better flow west of the hut. Much easier to fill a bottle from there.
And I don't filter that water either.

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:10 pm

HikeUp wrote: ↑I think there is confusion as to what location "below the hut" refers to.

I notice that as you are hiking up the ski hut trail to the ski hut you pass one (sometimes two) locations on the trail where water actually is seeping (sometimes flowing) across the trail (this point is actually marked as a spring on the topo maps). This is within view of the hut - a few minutes of hiking full speed. A single step will get you across these spots. I would never touch these myself because they are literally downhill from the shit house located uphill from this location and next to the ski hut.

Those are the ones we have been drinking from straight up for years. I don't know where deposits in the outhouse end up, but it is not in those springs.

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:54 am

RichardK wrote: ↑
HikeUp wrote: ↑I think there is confusion as to what location "below the hut" refers to.

I notice that as you are hiking up the ski hut trail to the ski hut you pass one (sometimes two) locations on the trail where water actually is seeping (sometimes flowing) across the trail (this point is actually marked as a spring on the topo maps). This is within view of the hut - a few minutes of hiking full speed. A single step will get you across these spots. I would never touch these myself because they are literally downhill from the shit house located uphill from this location and next to the ski hut.
Those are the ones we have been drinking from straight up for years. I don't know where deposits in the outhouse end up, but it is not in those springs.

thank you for all of your responses.

i've never filtered / sterilized at the ski hut.

i do shudder at the thought of drinking untreated water from the springs below the outhouse.

i am happy to hear that those that have, have not suffered any ill effects.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 8:18 pm

There was some discussion recently about water sources near the San Antonio ski hut. I went up there yesterday to refresh my memory and take some photos. Full Trip Report here.

It was also "old home week" of sorts: I ran into Yeti (Jeff), Shin, Asbufra, Patrick, Norma, and JeffH who are all people who post on the local internet forums or Facebook.

Here's the scoop:
There are three sources of water near the ski hut. Take a look at this satellite photo.
A is a spring before you reach the ski hut. The position of "A" is approximate.
B is the gully you cross before you reach the ski hut
C is San Antonio Creek which is just slightly past where you would turn off the main trail to get to the ski hut.
D is San Antonio ski hut itself
E is the relatively shallow gully east of the ski hut. If you look carefully just a bit to the left (west) of point "E," you can see the ski hut's outhouse.

DETAILS OF WATER SOURCES
As you ascend from Manker Flats, you will first cross the small trickle that is the outflow from spring at point "A" on the satellite photo.

There's not a lot of water, but it is flowing. I feel pretty comfortable drinking from this source untreated.

After passing the water from the spring, you'll climb a bit more and very quickly cross a small gully which is flowing reasonably well, not a lot, but more than the spring. This is marked as point "B" on the satellite photo.

I feel somewhat uncomfortable drinking from this source untreated, but more on that later.

Finally, you'll climb a bit more until you draw more or less abreast of the ski hut which you'll see from the main Baldy Bowl Trail off to your right (east) as you ascend.

Just past where you'd turn off to go to the ski hut, you'll cross a fairly major drainage which is flowing better than either of the other two water sources.

This is San Antonio Creek which flows down San Antonio Canyon and goes over San Antonio Falls which is the major falls that you passed on your way in. This is point "C" on the satellite map. I feel pretty comfortable drinking from this water source untreated.

DISCUSSION
I've indicated that I'd drink from "A" and "C" untreated but not "B." Why?

Well, "B" sits in a gully below the ski hut's outhouse. The gully you see in this photo...

...is the same gully that crosses the trail below the ski hut. In the photo, you can see the outhouse perched just above the gully.

You can see the gully where it crosses the trail in the below photo where I've marked the gully as "Creek Bed". I've circled the willows in the creek bed. To the right of the circled willows, I've circled a hiker who is standing at approximately where the water crosses the trail.

Notice also that there is an intervening ridge that separates the spring from the gully below the outhouse. The chance of that spring being contaminated by the outhouse is virtually nil.

Now where is that water in that gully below the outhouse coming from? Well, it's actually water from San Antonio Creek. The ski hut has a pipe that takes water from above the ski hut, presumably from San Antonio Creek . That pipe flows continuously into the sink inside the hut. The outflow of the sink flows via another pipe into the gully below the outhouse. So, really, the water in the gully below the outhouse is good water, BUT someone could contaminate that water by dumping something down the sink inside the ski hut or contamination from the outhouse could occur. Probably the water is just fine, but since there are two other sources nearby, I prefer to avoid the water in the gully below the outhouse.

The water in San Antonio Creek could become contaminated if someone were to go upstream, but there haven't been any problems so far that I'm aware of.

Probably the safest source is the first one, the spring.

Hope this clears things up.

HJ

P.S. Heck of a nice day for hiking yesterday.

The hut itself looked like it was in good shape.

Great day for a picnic too.

Happy trails to one and all.

davantalus · Post by **davantalus** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 12:23 am

Awesome post. Thanks for the lowdown.