I’ve spoken with a few of you and there is some anxiety about water.

That’s reasonable, considering we’re going to be trekking 30 miles through one of the most parched areas of the planet.

We can manage our anxiety with good planning. Here are my suggestions.

We start by making sure we can carry around a gallon of water. This isn’t too hard. Start with a water reservoir for your backpack that can carry at least 2 liters of water. There are lots of options available and you can find helpful reviews here.

I’ve been using the Geigerreg pressurized bladder for the last year and I love it. The extra tubing and bulb absolutely get in the way and make for clunky packing, but the benefits, to my mind, outweigh the drawbacks. The option to pressurize my reservoir allows me to spray water. This has been great for offering others a drink, washing wounds, filling pots, and a host of other things. In addition, I can pop an in-line filter between the bag and the tubing for elimination of 99.9% of viruses, bacteria, and protozoa. It’s just a really good set-up.

In addition to a water reservoir, I like to carry two one-liter bottles. I do this because I put electrolyte tablets in one bottle and keep the other bottle available for cooking water.

Filtration is important because these are seasonal springs used mostly by the local wildlife. You can get water bottles that have filters built in, or you can filter the water using a gravity set-up, a pump, UV light, or chlorine tablets. Boiling also works great, but uses fuel.

Confused about filters? You can read this article here.

If we’re smart, we’ll start our trip with full reservoirs and bottles. That gives us a gallon to get to our next water source, God willing.

The next thing we do is start each day early.

We’re going to be hiking cross-country through the desert, traversing areas that are completely without shade for hours at a time. It is imperative that we get much of this out of the way before the sun gets too high and dries us out. We need to be packed and ready to move immediately after the pre-dawn prayer.

Also, in consideration of those who observe the five daily prayers, our plan will be to combine and shorten prayers taking the dispensation of the Shafi’i school. With short days and long distances to cover, it’s important that we maintain our momentum, and this will be our intention in making use of the dispensation.

With our water supply being suspect, it is also strongly recommended that those praying learn the fundamentals of dry ablution, or tayammum. We are all going to be in the position of hunting down water sources which, although considered generally reliable, still must be found. Under such circumstances, conserving what we have becomes the absolute priority.

There are anticipated to be three areas along our route where seasonal springs can be found, God willing. In our email group I have sent you links to maps noting the locations of these springs. We will do our best to camp in these areas to allow for cooking, washing, and replenishing our water supply before locating the next water source.

All we can do is hope and plan. The rest is up to God.

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