Has anyone been in the Wild River area lately? I am thinking of backpacking there next week, using the High Water trail, the Wild River trail, Eagle Link, and and a few others that could have some tricky stream crossings. I understand that Spider bridge is gone, so I am planning to use the Moriah Brook suspension bridge - which means using the High Water trail more. The guide says that crossings of Bull brook, Spruce Brook, and of course the Wild River could be dangerous in high or even moderate water levels. Yikes!
Wild River area stream crossings?
- Thread starter snowbird
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vegematic
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Hi Snowbird,
I hiked the highwater trail from Moriah bridge up to Spider bridge a few weeks ago with my 12-year-old niece. I would say the water level was "average". We took our boots off for some of the crossings but they were not dangerous...shin deep at most. Taller or more graceful hikers might have been able to rock hop across.
We even forded the Wild River at the location of spider bridge. This was trickier but it looked like some evil weather was fast approaching and we wanted to get back to the car quickly. Where we crossed was about hip-deep on me (I'm 5-6) at the deepest and fastest part of the flow. There were large boulders to brace against.
That is a lovely area to backpack in and not heavily visited. You may get a shelter to yourself. The upper part of the Wild River and its valley are truly special. Have fun!
-vegematic
I hiked the highwater trail from Moriah bridge up to Spider bridge a few weeks ago with my 12-year-old niece. I would say the water level was "average". We took our boots off for some of the crossings but they were not dangerous...shin deep at most. Taller or more graceful hikers might have been able to rock hop across.
We even forded the Wild River at the location of spider bridge. This was trickier but it looked like some evil weather was fast approaching and we wanted to get back to the car quickly. Where we crossed was about hip-deep on me (I'm 5-6) at the deepest and fastest part of the flow. There were large boulders to brace against.
That is a lovely area to backpack in and not heavily visited. You may get a shelter to yourself. The upper part of the Wild River and its valley are truly special. Have fun!
-vegematic
If the weather's fine, you'll be fine.
If it rains, be careful. If you get thunderstorms, you could be trapped; however, watching the USGS stream flow, it does seem to drop fairly quickly and waiting a few hours may be all that you need. On the Wild, 150cfs is a nice, trivial crossing. A few hundred cfs will get your feet wet but that's still only 6 inches deeper. Much more than that, though, and you'll want to be careful.
That said, you've got the Moriah suspension bridge as an alternative to Spider Bridge to get across the Wild. You still have to cross Cypress Brook (big) and Spruce Brook (small), though. Read my adventure for what 4 inches of rain will do.
If it rains, be careful. If you get thunderstorms, you could be trapped; however, watching the USGS stream flow, it does seem to drop fairly quickly and waiting a few hours may be all that you need. On the Wild, 150cfs is a nice, trivial crossing. A few hundred cfs will get your feet wet but that's still only 6 inches deeper. Much more than that, though, and you'll want to be careful.
That said, you've got the Moriah suspension bridge as an alternative to Spider Bridge to get across the Wild. You still have to cross Cypress Brook (big) and Spruce Brook (small), though. Read my adventure for what 4 inches of rain will do.
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