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When is the best time to cross a mountain stream?
Gnarly old rangers will tell you to cross spring streams early in the morning when the water is lowest. As T.H. Huxley once observed, there is nothing more tragic than “the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.”
Jessica Lunquist has been studying snowmelt in the Sierra for several years and finds that such expert advice ain't necessarily so.
Author documents research with tables, charts, graphs and other quantitative data.
Timing in the smallest streams actually depends on the depth of the snowpack.
In larger rivers timing doesn’t depend on the snowpack
In summary, it’s not always a good idea to set up camp solely for the purpose of waiting for better stream crossing conditions in the morning. This generally works near small streams in the summer, but not if you’re some distance from the snowline. However, setting up camp near a stream for several days could be a fun experiment. Watch the water rise and fall and learn what it tells you about the water’s journey from the top of the snowpack to the spot where you stand.
stream flow, snowmelt, marble fork, water flow sensors, solinst levlogger
Lundquist, Jessica. "When is the best time to cross a mountain stream? Understanding daily variations in streamflow." Sierra Nature Notes, Volume 4, June 2004.
May 31, 2004 10:00 PM
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Marble Fork (Kaweah River), Sequoia National Park, Vernal falls, Happy Isles, Hetch Hetchy, Mono Lake
Marble Fork, Rafferty creek, Gaylor creek, Lyell Fork, Merced River, Tuolumne river, Kaweah river