[pct-l] Wading Creeks

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, All,

Several years ago I posted some comments about fording at
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=167914, specifically:

“Stream crossing isn’t my worry, but it is a concern for many hikers
because it involves elements that they rarely experience individually, let
alone all at once, for example: 1) Most hikers avoid getting wet up to the
crotch. 2) The water may be only minutes from a snowpack or glacier, and if
so will be numbingly cold. 3) We don’t like to walk on a slick, uneven
surface that we probably can’t see well, and, 4) We are not accustomed to
the significant lateral force of current being applied to our bodies.”

There’s a (partial) cure for this concern and inexperience in which few –
or no – hikers will care to participate:  Look around in your area and find
a creek or small river, and go wading.  I have two advantages in that
respect:  1) I’ve been “wadin’ in the crick” since I was about 5 years old,
and, 2) I now live in close proximity to rivers that drain the southwest
slopes of Mt. Hood – rivers that, during most of the year, strongly
resemble the streams of the Sierras, meaning they are knee-deep,
fast-flowing over rocks, and entirely satisfactory in terms of being
numbingly cold.

Training for the PCT, hikers book hundreds – or even thousands – of trail
miles, but who spends even 5 minutes wading?  Get out there and wade; get
cold and wet; fall down if you must; it doesn’t matter:  There’s a dry
towel and a heater in the car at the end of the training day.  After such
winter training you will be so experienced you will take Evolution Creek
and Bear Creek in stride.

Enjoy your planning,

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/