Hey Steve,
you'll notice that there is a place in bighorn park where there are three dots on the same spot. That's the Rockwell Spring...it really is good water.
My first time up the MMWT I got AMS on the 97 switchbacks. I knew about AMS and I took diamox. But I definitely didn't spend any meaningful time at altitude before the hike. I honestly didn't think that I would get AMS. Figured the diamox would take care of everything. I suppose I was lucky that my symptoms hit so quickly and so hard that there was no choice but to descend to an elevation where I felt better.
Hopefully the anecdotes here will help others take it more seriously. And as suggested already, I think they do.
