By: Blonde One
This was the phrase that was repeated over and over yesterday as the Two Blondes tried to make a decision about which part of the stream/river to cross! It’s always a very tricky decision and if we have control over the route card we make sure that it is not necessary. Our routes will usually avoid river crossings at any cost. A few miles detour is always better! However, yesterday the route was set for us and required 2 river crossings. The walking was lovely and we kept, as always, to a good pace. Jelly Babies were flowing well, the company was excellent and the weather, for the most part, was clear and bright. What could possibly go wrong?! Our river crossing adventures took 3 very distinct forms and we are in the process of negotiating with each other about which is preferable.
1. The leap. This is what it says it is. It involves finding a narrow enough stretch of water and taking a run up and leaping across. Usually the bag will have been thrown across before hand.
2. The wade. This one means finding a shallow, slow enough stretch and simply walking through. The downside to this one is that invariably you get wet socks. This left me with waterlogged boots: upon returning home I thought I might actually have trench foot!
3. The balancing across slippery rock method. This is a very tricky one as rocks are never flat, always covered in wet moss and aren’t usually placed a comfortable pace apart. Using walking poles does help a lot though.
We tried all 3 methods yesterday and not one was satisfactory! With careful reflection this morning, I have come to the conclusion that as well as my emergency group shelter, glow sticks, survival bag, first aid kit, emergency rations, spare clothing, etc, etc, etc, I will now add to my kit and carry with me a portable bridge! This seems to be the only way for the Two Blondes to get across any water with no faffing.
What Blonde One has kindly not told you is that I am definitely the worst/best river faffer. I am, however, pleased to say that, despite a lot of faffing and with some B1 encouragement, I did manage a rock balance yesterday (hate it!)
It’s a a very difficult balance to get right, and at the Ten Tors Managers’ meeting this autumn there was certainly measures that will be taken to minimise the risks of stream crossing in future events. However, walking in open country in the South West, and many other parts of the UK almost inevitably leads to crossing flowing water at some point. With the group I recently supervised I took the view that it is a risk that has to be learnt how to to be managed. It led to some interesting discussions.
We started off with the idea that if you don’t have to, don’t. At worst they had the equipment to sit out over night, warm and dry, and take a safer route later. However taking a longer route to avoid crossing they may expose themselves to risks associated with terrain, weather, nightfall, physical exhaustion or even road traffic to take a bridge – so they had to come to a realistic judgement about relative risks.
When we did cross streams we spent some time looking at the problem we were facing. We looked at what was likely to happen but then considered what could be the consequences of what we were doing – drowning, immersion hypothermia or injuries from falling against rocks. We discussed what the power of the water could do, and that even an ankle deep flowing stream can unbalance or that deep water is deceptively powerful; also the effect of their clothing and kit should they be in the water. We gave thought of the harm that potential rescuers could face too.
After all of this deliberation rather than a short step across a narrow, but deep and fast section they chose a wide, shallow sandy bottomed stretch further upstream – and wet feet.
When they are unsupervised, I wonder what they will do. Personally I would probably take the narrow step and dry feet, considering the potential, but unlikely consequences, worth it. Perhaps they would do the same out of adult sight.
Sending groups of youngsters out is full of difficult choices. Do you avoid some situations altogether, leaving them without the skills to handle them if they do arise, or do you train them and leave a false sense of confidence to tackle things when they shouldn’t. It makes me feel uneasy either way.
You are entitled to faff a bit with dodgy knees. The “Leap” terrifies me – especially if the bag gets chucked across first – what if I fail to follow it? If a search up and down stream doesn’t find a suitable place, then paddling where it is shallower (I use poles too) is the one for me – one can always put on a spare pair of socks and a poly bag inside each boot to get feet warm again later.
Sounds as though there is going to be a big rush for “Big Orange”s, hee, but the waterproof toe-cap sounds just the goods – the big failing of down bags is that they are not warm when they are wet.
Utterly terrifying, I am with you there. I have some strategies, one involves two big liners, one over each leg, suitable for a brief wade across (good if water not too fast moving). The other is to remove my boots and socks, roll up my trousers, stow my socks and then either just wade across, dry by feet and redress OR if river bed looks like it might be hurty then I put my boots back on without socks and walk across. When redressing after getting wet boots I put my socks on, the put a sandwich bag over my foot then put my boot back on. You could use waterproof socks but they are not comfy.
We Blondes like Sealskinz socks. They are quite comfy and keep your feet warm if water comes into contact with them.