AT hiker death linked to flood in VT

[peakbagger]

https://vtdigger.org/2023/07/29/poli...ermont-floods/

The ground has been saturated up north due to record rain in June and July. Any sort or heavy rain will really crank up the streams.

I did a sketchy move crossing a fast stream earlier this year, I made it but if it had gone bad it would have gone really bad. Many folks do not realize how powerful a moving stream in combination with a slippery rocky bottom can be. Even with poles anything much more than knee deep can be very hard to negotiate. Rock hopping can work but the potential of things going real bad increases compared to wading across.

[Traveler]

My condolences to Bob Kerker's family, friends, and hiking comrades. A tragic circumstance to be sure, adding to the cautionary tale collection of the hiking community.

As with many here, I have made hundreds of successful moving water crossings in dry and wet weather but that does not mean the next one will be successful. All it takes is about 4" - 6" of moving water to take us off our feet (8"-12" can take passenger cars away). Easy water crossings can quickly change into a life threatening circumstance as many who hike slot canyons can attest. Recent heavy rains and continued wet weather in the Northeast is keeping the water table high and makes a normally tame stream crossing a considerable adversary. It can be exceedingly difficult to predict what is in the water flow below the surface, trees, shrubs, vine plants can create snags that can be lethal but cannot be seen from the surface. It's nearly impossible to tell if normal flow channels have been scoured out or new ones made that cannot be seen before falling victim to them.

Weather conditions can change the bottom of these waterways as I found out several years ago on the second step across a small creek I had crossed many times before. The second step in the usual 2' deep channel had changed into a 5' deep channel with water at the bottom moving so fast I did not have time to react before I found myself underwater. Were it not for some lucky positioned rocks I got a foot hold on things could have ended badly. I have reviewed that moment (still do) and what I could have done to mitigate the threat, but there was no way to read the water with much accuracy making each step a step of faith that nothing had changed underwater.

"If there's a doubt, there is no doubt" should apply when making water crossings in high water conditions. If it looks hinky it probably is.

[somers515]

Passed by the Brook the other day. Easily rock hoppable now but we could see how high the water level was. Rest in peace Steady Eddie.