Flowing Waters Of Spring: The Fascination
Flowing water fascinates me. I love to fish in it, swim in it, paddle on it, walk beside it, sit and watch it flow over and around rocks, listen to its many voices and let its soft murmurings lull me to sleep at night in a tent.
Spring in New England is the season of flowing water. In fact, one of the things that keeps me from being depressed while watching all our beautiful snow melt is knowing that much of the water held captive in the snow is going to flow. At this time of year, every little runlets has its laughing voice, As the flows grow from tricles and runlets to brooks to streams to rivers, the voice grows louder and louder. Waterfalls speak the loudest, and if you’ve ever gotten near the base of Niagara Falls, where the rushing thunder of falling water penetrates to the very marrow of your bones, you know how forceful that voice can be. Movement is life, and all the water in New England is moving at this time of year.
It may seem to pause momentarily in a pond or lake, but if you visit the outlet and watch the water flow away, you quickly get a sense of how frail an illusion that apparent stillness is. Water is always on the move and I prefer the visible and audible motion of a brook, stream or river to the apparent stillness of a pond or lake.
Flowing water is so beautiful, so enticing that we sometimes forget that it can also be dangerous, especially in the spring when currents are strong and the water is mind-numbingly, muscle-cramping cold.
The Flowing Waters Of Spring: The Menace
Many spring hikers suddenly discover the darker side of flowing water when they start up a trail they hiked easily last fall and find that a brook they stepped across without even noticing is now an impassable torrent. This is especially true when you get a string of warm days and above-freezing nights or a hard spring rain in the mountains. Those conditions can send snowmelt and/or rainwater cascading downward.
Out in the mountains of the west, you often have to plan your high-country hikes so you make brook crossings early in the morning, before the sun has a chance to go to work and fill the brooks with snowmelt. Here in east, where we rarely get the huge temperature swings so common in the drier air of the west, the runoff is steadier. A mountain brook running bank-full from snowmelt or heavy rains may stay that way for weeks.
Sometimes, there’s just no easy way to get across a brook like that. Even ankle deep water can sweep you off your feet, especially if it’s running over water-polished rocks. At best you are in for a dunking—not the most pleasant of sensations when the water’s as cold as it is at this time of year. At worst, well, imagine being wet and hypothermic with a cold night coming on, or even worse yet, unable to get yourself out of the water.
At this time of year, knowing how to use topographical maps and hiking guidebooks like the AMC and Green Mountain guides can save you a lot of time and trouble. Look for trails that run beside brooks but don’t cross them. If a brook is large enough to show as a solid blue line on the map, it’s almost certain to be tricky getting across unless there’s a bridge. Even some of the dashed blue lines can spell trouble if there’s still snow on the hills above or if there have been heavy rains recently.
Brooks are marvelous creatures in the spring. Just don’t forget that they have a power of their own. Enjoy them, but when they are running heavy, don’t challenge them. Life isn’t a spectator sport. Get out and enjoy!
The Flowing Waters Of Spring: A True Tale
According to a press release from New Hampshire Fish and Game a search team on foot recently found a 17-year-old hiker, who had been lost in New Hampshire’s White Mountains for three days. The hiker was reportedly in good condition. He was found on the Sphinx Trail in the Great Gulf Wilderness, headed back toward the summits of the Presidential Range.
The search team hiked with him back to the summit of Mt. Washington, where he was given a ride on a Sno-Cat down the auto road. To quote the press release: “Because of where he was located and conditions on the ground, this was the only prudent exit from the mountain. Conditions in the White Mountains became increasingly treacherous over the course of the search, because rain and rapid snowmelt made many small streams impassable. Search teams needed to use rope traverses to cross raging waters.
The missing hiker had left the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Pinkham Notch Visitor Center at about 8:30 on Saturday morning, hiking alone, intending to complete a 17-mile hike and return to Pinkham Notch in one day. His planned route included the summits of Mount Washington and Mount Madison which would be a long and arduous hike under absolutely ideal conditions. He was found on Tuesday morning.
A quick look at the White Mountains Presidential Trail Map showed exactly why he couldn’t hike down the Sphinx Trail. It intersects the Great Gulf Trail but to get to that trail, you have to cross the headwaters of the Peabody River below Spaulding Lake. Most if not all of the other trails in the area cross those solid blue lines that indicate streams of some consequence. I don’t know any more details than I’ve shared with you, but I know that young man has a story to tell and I’ll bet some of it involves flowing water.