Ramona Falls Sandy River Crossing 2019
Posted: May 13th, 2019, 2:31 pm
I and someone else were asking in another thread what the crossing looks like this year. To add to the replies given there: I went today and had no problem. That's "no problem" in the context of "I have a pretty major fear of falling, a stiff spine and consequently pretty iffy balance, and really wish there were just a dang bridge again" Sorry no pics, but by the time I planned to take them on the way back there were quite a few people crossing, and I didn't feel comfortable snapping pics of strangers.
There seem to be a few different places where people are crossing. But right after I dropped down to the river I spotted a flag in the bank just a short ways upstream, so I headed straight for that. Small sturdy log for feet, bigger sturdier log to brace hands against--there was some distance between them, so it was definitely a lean-and-brace kind of thing, but easy enough. And there was only a narrow channel to cross at that point, before you could drop down and go the rest of the way on dry ground.
On the return I met a couple guys at the river and we discussed where we had come over. They had used a crossing a little further down, pretty much right where the trail spits you out as you are headed in. That one has a little bit of a handhold at about knee level for most of the way, but for the last short bit on the TH side you have to switch to a different, smooth log. I watched the first guy go across while I stowed my poles and loose stuff in my pack. He got to the end of the first log, seemed kind of stuck for a moment, then switched to the other, got all wobbly, slipped off the smooth log and went in the water. He was fine, just the shallows at the edge, but that was all I needed to see before heading back to my original crossing point.
Look for the flag.
There seem to be a few different places where people are crossing. But right after I dropped down to the river I spotted a flag in the bank just a short ways upstream, so I headed straight for that. Small sturdy log for feet, bigger sturdier log to brace hands against--there was some distance between them, so it was definitely a lean-and-brace kind of thing, but easy enough. And there was only a narrow channel to cross at that point, before you could drop down and go the rest of the way on dry ground.
On the return I met a couple guys at the river and we discussed where we had come over. They had used a crossing a little further down, pretty much right where the trail spits you out as you are headed in. That one has a little bit of a handhold at about knee level for most of the way, but for the last short bit on the TH side you have to switch to a different, smooth log. I watched the first guy go across while I stowed my poles and loose stuff in my pack. He got to the end of the first log, seemed kind of stuck for a moment, then switched to the other, got all wobbly, slipped off the smooth log and went in the water. He was fine, just the shallows at the edge, but that was all I needed to see before heading back to my original crossing point.
Look for the flag.
