Just realized I've been ignoring the creek crossings on my maps

I was planning a 4 day loop in the North Cascades last fall and kept seeing these little blue lines on the map... I figured they were just small streams. Got to the first one after 8 miles and it was a raging, knee-deep torrent from snowmelt. Had to backtrack 2 miles to a spot I remembered seeing a fallen log. Now I always check the elevation and time of year for every single crossing before I go. Has anyone else gotten stuck by a surprise creek that looked harmless on paper?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmamason3d ago

That "raging, knee-deep torrent" is so familiar. I got caught like that in the Sierra once. What works for me now is pulling up satellite images from the same month I'm going. You can often spot if a crossing is braided and wide, which means it's usually shallower, or if it's a single deep channel cut through trees.

rayadams2d ago

Hey @emmamason, that's a solid tip for sure. But I gotta ask, have you ever had the satellite image look totally fine and then you get there and it's a whole different story? I mean, a late storm or a quick warm spell can change a crossing overnight. I've seen a braided channel from June turn into one scary fast channel by July after a hot week. The pictures are a great start, but they're like a snapshot from last week's weather, not a promise.

roberth662d ago

My satellite images are usually just pictures of my own poor choices.