[pct-l] Wading Creeks

[Diarmaid Harmon]

Steel-eye.

I have been reading the posts with some humor thinking exactly what you just posted. 
Even an anual trip around Mt Hood on trail 600 early in the season will give you all
the conditions you will find on the trail and all within easy bail out points if things get
uncomfortable. In 3 to 4 days or less if you want to push it you will experience everything
from snow and route finding to frigid glacial fed streams that can be deadly. If you are a PNW 
hiker all this is within reasonable distance from Portland.

Hiking Irish.



On Mar 17, 2012, at 8:00 AM, CHUCK CHELIN wrote:

> 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/
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