El Capitan Summit Water Source

After talking with some friends, the topic came up of water on El Capitan's summit. I have heard of a seasonal spring somewhere up on top of El Cap but haven't located it. Can anyone out there confirm? And possibly help w beta or location?

I have no positive sources, but I have read somewhere once, maybe Supertopo, that there is a spring. I think I've also read that it can dry up. Stories come to mind of hikers that happily share their resources with climbers once the climber has summited. Hopefully someone with more information will chime in.

If you've been up or down the east ledges and across the top to say the middle of the SE face, you'll have walked by/over some drainage features in the summit slabs that collect pools of water in places, mostly over on the far east side. EDIT: This is the horsetail falls drainage Scott mentions below. Some of those pools last a long time. Nasty, stagnant water in summer, probably want a filter.

One year I topped out in late Sept, in insanely hot temps, having been out of water for 2 days. I was really weak, starting to hallucinate, and didn't trust myself to get down the raps on the east ledges on that condition. So I hiked the falls trail that goes all the way back to Yos falls and continues down to the valley. After maybe a mile or two of hiking, the trail is in some nice wooded area with tall trees, not manzanita scrub, and you start crossing little drainages. In each drainage, it was bone dry, but I'd stop and listen. Eventually, after maybe the fourth or fifth one, I heard a trickle. Bushwhacked up the drainage a little, and found a tiny spring where the water was running under a tree root system, then went right back underground. But it was putting out about a gallon every 5 minutes or so.

I know that's a poor description, but that's all I've got. Really depends on time of year, how much snowpack, how much rain, etc.

I've found water in the little stream that forms horsetail falls, it's down by Zodiac. Bring some kinda purification (MSR makes nice little tablets that don't taste as bad as iodine).

From what i remember, if you're at the top proceed to walk north away from the face and the spring was up in that direction somewhere. Not a major spring but enough to replenish your supply for the trek or rap down.

There was a lot of running water two weeks ago between the top out of the Nose and the East ledges descent. Flowing fast

JeffL wrote:There was a lot of running water two weeks ago between the top out of the Nose and the East ledges descent. Flowing fast

It's shown in this Louder Than 11 video about 10 minutes in.

youtube.com/watch?v=VapbvTq…

Not really directions right to it, but maybe some clues.

There's usually left over water at the top out for zodiac. Search around and you'll usually find it behind some rocks.

Chris Nebel wrote:It's shown in this Louder Than 11 video about 10 minutes in. youtube.com/watch?v=VapbvTq… Not really directions right to it, but maybe some clues.

The flow feeding horsetail falls is still running as of last weekend. It is not huge, but definitely big enough to fill up water. It is just past Zodiac.