Took six hours to find a water crossing on the PCT that should have taken 20 minutes.

I hit a section near a creek crossing in the Sierra that was supposed to be a quick ford. But the snowmelt was way higher than the guide described and the log bridges were submerged. I wasted over six hours backtracking up and down a half mile of trail looking for a safe spot. Every time I thought I found a place, the current was too fast or the rocks were too slick. Finally had to just strip down, pack everything in a dry bag, and wade across in knee-deep water at a wide gravel bar. That whole detour wrecked my daily mileage goal. Has anyone else dealt with a route that lied about crossing conditions like that?

1 comments

1 Comment

craig.tessa1mo ago

Oh man, did you at least get a good story out of it? lol I did something similar once on a different trail where the map said "easy gravel bar crossing" and I ended up swimming with my pack above my head like a moron. The water was so cold I couldn't feel my legs for like an hour after. I feel your pain on the mileage goal getting wrecked, sometimes the trail just has to humble you.