Log crossings while solo

[AK Granola]

I did a short stretch of the JMT last summer, and was just starting to feel more confident about the many log crossings required for Sierra travel, when I had to bail for altitude issues. I’m going to do another stretch this coming summer, and I’d like some advice from those of you highly experienced at using logs for crossing, particularly when solo. At the very first crossing I waited for others to come along, since I hadn’t really done something like this in many years; most water crossings I have done are glacial streams and I just wade. I probably could have done this one without waiting, since the stream wasn’t that daunting. But it was only 45 minutes or so until hikers came by. The second big one would have been a disaster if I’d fallen, so I was happy to wait again, and glad to have 4 young men on the other side when I crossed. Most of the other streams I just waded, and did a few logs that weren’t that scary, more flat on top.

I also have what is probably a dumb question but y’all need entertainment so wth. At these tougher streams, where the only real option is a log, do the public lands folks actually fell these logs for the purpose of providing a means to cross? Or do they reroute the trail where a log already is? I guess there are a few bridges but on my route I only saw a couple, over water that likely never stops raging. Logs seem to be the main method of stream crossing up there, intentionally.

One log I used was pretty deteriorated, and likely won’t be there in a season or two. What then? That was at Rush Creek, I think. I crossed while water was pouring over the log, and the far end where it met the bank was squishy and rotten. Maybe the water drops overnight there. Or once the log is gone, they’ll put another one there?

Any tips for log crossings? I held my poles balanced horizontally, checked my shoelaces, then took some calming breaths as I took one step at a time across. I saw a lady scoot across one log on her bum, but that looked worse, with the pack threatening to take her off balance. Plus with shorts you could get splinters. I was thankful for my longtime yoga practice including balance exercises!

[Ryan Jordan]

Karen,

This is a GREAT request, thanks for posting.

Personally, I loathe log crossings.

They are slippery, unstable, prone to bad judgment, and put people at risk for further injury.

In my 30+ years of guiding, the #1 most common injury I’ve seen is a result of trying to cross streams on logs or rocks. Twisted ankles, hypothermia from falling in the water and getting wet, and bruises from falling.

I’d rather wade. Cold feet are better.

Sometimes, that’s not always possible, because wading can be dangerous in a rushing stream of lots of water volume.

So if a log is all you got, your best defense is other people to watch you.

You’re second best defense is to go slow, and do what’s comfortable for you. If that’s skooching across the log an inch at a time on your crotch, that’s fine. Better than walking if you’re risking a fall due to bad balance.

Also, I like using a rope/cord to pull the pack across separately. No need to have your balance messed up by trying to deal with a heavy pack while crossing a log. One technique I’ve used before is to leave my pack on the near side, tie a cord to it (usually my bear bag cord), tie that cord to a rock/rock sack, toss it across to the other side. Cross the log. Then, grab the cord and pull my pack across.

Great subject, and it’s worth extreme care and thoughtfulness.

[Cameron M]

Sometimes when a creek is absolutely not crossable, a fallen log is the only way to go. Good advice from Ryan. The main precaution I take is to shimmy across and not try to balance/walk. Logs are unpredictably slimy in spots, and fall would mean not just a dangerous immersion but also a likely fall injury.

https://vimeo.com/243482258

[Roger Caffin]

not try to balance/walk
That only works when the log is smooth the full length. When it has big spikes

it’s another matter. But yes, the log was dry at the time.

Cheers

[Jerry Adams]

I see she had a stick for balance, sometimes I’ll do that

I used to have better balance and could cross easier

It’s good if there are two logs, especially if one is higher up to hold on to for balance.

On the trail around Mount Hood someone ties several logs together which helps.  I don’t know if that’s a federal employee.  Much easier to walk on.

Or boulder hopping is another way to cross.  More likely to be closer to the ground.

[Roger Caffin]

I think the long stick was a prerequisite. After she got across she speared the stick back to me.

Cheers

[Jerry Adams]

I’ll leave the stick on the bank for when I return

[Tom K]

Count me in the Ryan category of loathing them.  If I have to use a log, due to dangerous water conditions, I have no pride whatsoever;  Like Cameron, I will shamelessly shimmy across on my butt if at all possible.  If not, and the log is low enough to the water, I will extend my poles to full length and walk across using them for balance. If all else fails, I will head upstream in search of a braid for wading, hoppable rocks, or a log more suited to shimmying.  Bottom line, though I’ve never had to do it so far, is to turn around.  Like Viesturs once said:  Summiting is optional, returning is mandatory.  Same goes for a backpacking route in my world

[AK Granola]

Thanks guys, now I don’t feel like such a chicken. I did find that I was quickly improving as I did more of these logs. Scooting on the butt seems more precarious than walking though. Not? Maybe I need practice at that! All the things we did as children on the playground come into play when backpacking- scooting, balancing,  scrambling, jumping off things, crawling under or climbing over. But with a pack on.  Instead of a climbing gym, maybe we need an obstacle course design for backpackers. That could catch on at an REI maybe! Next trend.

[Rex Sanders]

Safety tip – if you wade across, do so downstream of entrapment hazards like low logs as much as possible. People also die from getting trapped underwater by brush or tree trunks. While whitewater rafting, I came close to “strainer” entrapment a couple of times. Another time I was 50 yards from someone who drowned under a newly-fallen tree with no way to reach them.

Finding a safer way across swift water means looking downstream, too. I like to have dozens of yards of obstacle-free water with easy exit points. But sometimes you do the best you can.

— Rex

[jscott]

I also hate log crossings. As has been said, they are often slippery, slimy and hovering over dangerous water; also, if you fall and are swept under yet more logs, you’re in a world of hurt. I hike in the Sierra and there are lots of log crossings. Rarely there will be one that meets perfect criteria, that is, it’s dry and has a second, higher log to use as a handrail. Or it’s very wide and dry.

That almost never happens. After all, we’re carrying ~25 lbs of weight on our backs. Dropping five or ten feet into swift and/or deep water with an uncertain bottom with that weight on our backs is just asking for trouble.

Scooting across on your butt, or on your hands and knees on a log jam, turns out to be more difficult than it looks. But if you’re reduced to this, it’s because your other options are worse, so…

I don’t think practice will solve logs, although it can’t hurt. I find another way around, like Tom, and this usually works. Or I wade in. If anything, I’d practice this skill. I don’t know that having witnesses will always solve log crossings–if you go down and break an ankle or are badly gashed, or worse, having people around to fish you out will help you to not die, but you’ll still be left in bad shape. And it may not be that easy to fish you out!

[Roger Caffin]

I will shamelessly shimmy
This I must see, in Technicolour. Sound effects optional (bongo drums?).

Cheers

[Tom K]

“Sound effects optional (bongo drums?).”

More like sniffling and whimpering, with the laughter of your partner in the background.  ;0)

Cheers

[Tom K]

“Finding a safer way across swift water means looking downstream, too.”

True enough, and I have occasionally done it that way.  But generally, your chances are better upstream.  Sometimes, a map will indicate braiding downstream, which would dictate checking that out first.  As always, evaluate the situation.  There are no hard and fast rules, except returning alive.

[David Thomas]

My Scoutmaster’s worst first aid experience was the result of a log crossing gone bad.

Often you can warm-up your log-crossing skills by walking on top of a few downed trees on the forest floor.

I trick I learned from Manfred & Sons in the Brooks Range (for a deep, fast, wide, cold river crossing): Pair up with another person and be a quadruped.  Waist belts undone.  You hold their shoulder straps at their upper chest and they hold yours.  If either of you start to slip, pull down on the other person sticking them more firmly to the stream bed.  But mostly, you’re just much more stable on four legs, moving one at a time.  It doesn’t solve every river crossing, but makes the mid-depth fast (or even the shallow but potentially slippery) ones much safer.

[Roger Caffin]

be a quadruped
Sue & I do that anytime we are not sure about the river. Normally we just lock one arm on the other’s shoulder, but we move one foot (out of the four) at a time.

Cheers

[Matthew / BPL]

“If either of you start to slip, pull down on the other person sticking them more firmly to the stream bed”

I haven’t heard that one before. It’s counterintuitive but makes sense.

[jscott]

Many times I’ve found myself eyeing a log crossing and looking for a way around when a group of people come up and cross the log without a moment’s hesitation. this used to make me feel chicken. Not anymore. I’ve crossed a LOT of logs. when I finally started considering what would happen if I fell off with a pack on my back, I became more cautious.

I was once goaded into crossing a log with a foot of fresh snow on top.

[Greg Mihalik]

“If either of you start to slip, pull down on the other person sticking them more firmly to the stream bed”

I haven’t heard that one before. It’s counterintuitive but makes sense.

 

If you pull down, you will go up, and your feet may be dislodged.  It’s complicated.

 

 

[Rex Sanders]

Quadraped with second person or trekking poles is good, threesomes and more can work better, triped (is that a word?) with hiking staff or found branch is good, too. Many techniques available for crossing swift water safer; in the US those are taught in swiftwater rescue courses (overkill for backpackers); NZ has crossing courses just for trekkers.

After a rescue course and years of whitewater rafting experience, I’m much more comfortable crossing through a river than teetering on a log.

I wrote something not entirely clear earlier:

Finding a safer way across swift water means looking downstream, too.

I meant scanning downstream for potential hazards anywhere you choose to cross. If you get swept off your feet, what happens next? Bad: swept under logs or into brush; also bad: swept into gnarly rocky areas, rapids, or waterfalls. Almost as bad: the river or creek disappears around a corner and you don’t know what’s down there.

Searching upstream for easier crossing paths generally works better than searching downstream. If upstream looks bad, search downstream, too. But remember to scan downstream for other hazards.

— Rex

[Rex Sanders]

Like Ryan, I saw many rafting injuries within 10 feet of shore, often people falling off boats, logs or, rocks.

One of the worst injuries happened when someone wading in 18 inches of water slipped and sliced his calf to the bone on a sharp rock. That was an evac.

Be careful out there.

— Rex

[Roger Caffin]

I was once goaded into crossing a log with a foot of fresh snow on top.
I tried the same thing with snow on rocks, late in the season. The snow was continuous, but the rocks weren’t.

Cheers

[Rex Sanders]

Maybe stating the obvious, but if log scrambling doesn’t appeal to you, consider crossing on the downstream side of the log and using the log as a handrail. Choosing that path depends on other risk factors, but I’ve used logs as braces several times.

— Rex

[jscott]

roger or others: have you read The Last Season?

snow crossings over creeks are a related hazard for sure. Especially when you don’t know you’re over water.

[Kevin Babione]

While hiking the Laurel Highlands Trail in PA this past May I learned, obviously the hard way, that not all log bridges are the same.  I had crossed at least a dozen bridges made from a tree cut in half with the flat side facing up.  We were just starting out on our third day and I was in the lead.  I was 2/3 across this bridge when my brain said “this bridge is really slippery” and my feet went out from under me, I bounced off the bridge and landed on my pack in the small stream about 3 feet below the top of the bridge.

I was extremely lucky…My arm brushed against the side of the bridge and I had a small abrasion but that was the extent of it.  Landing on my pack (a ZPacks Arc Zip) cushioned my fall and kept my head from striking anything.  My hiking buddy behind me was sure I was knocked out until I swore – He said it was an impressive fall.

I guess the moral of my story is:  Each crossing is unique…Take the time to make sure you know what this one will be like.

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