[pct-l] Dangerous ford near Lava Spring (40 miles south of White Pass) puts at least 2 thru hikers off the trail

[Greg Mikol]

I don't know that there's anything that "can be done", short of finding
funding for a bridge. I don't know anything about anything in that regard,
but I would guess at least $20K...it's in wilderness, so there's a lot of
manpower involved.

It's unfortunate that a couple of hikers got injured at this ford, but
there are plenty who crossed it without incident (including a party of ~10
boy scouts when I crossed it in mid-August on my section hike.)

When I crossed it (noon-ish) it was just about mid-calf on me (6'3"). 4
hours later, when Sleepytime and Whistle crossed, Whistle said it was
mid-thigh (but he's a little shorter than me.) And it had been clear and
dry for at least a week. With the recent rain we've had, I could imagine
that it's running kind of high. I've got to agree with Piroska (who I think
was just a day or 2 ahead of me), unless a log has been flat-faced, I'd
take a thigh-deep ford over a sketchy log.

If there is a concern, it might be more beneficial to the hiking community
to know that this creek seems to be very sensitive to upstream flows.
Forewarned is forearmed. It looks like it is glacier-fed. And every hiker
can plan accordingly and make their own decisions. Maybe Yogi and Ben
Schifrin/Wilderness Press can make a note of it in their '08 updates (if WP
hasn't made their printing plates already.) 

That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

--Greg

>There is a small muddy ford with a log across it just
>south of Lava Spring (South of Goat Rocks). It looks a
>bit sketchy. As you cross it, if you have poles you
>will notice they go very deep, which puts you off
>balance. It's not easy and the alternative is a
>thigh-deep ford.
>
>I'm sorry to spread around other people's business but
>I heard Ladybug broke her ankle at this ford just before
>I got there (that would be late last week). I was
>talking to Amtrak today and he too sprained his ankle
>there and is now off the trail.
>
>I don't know if the PCT Organization can do anything
>about things like this but it is clearly dangerous.
>I thought it worth posting here as a bit of a warning.
>This is passable by all means but be careful and be
>aware that at least 2 thru-hikers have been cut short
>here.
>
>Carl