In response to Owen's question: I'm reasonably experienced about it. Started hiking in the Sierra in 1969 and now spend about 30 days a year backpacking, mostly in the Sierra. I'm co-moderator of the JohnMuirTrail Group at Yahoo and investigated the face-forward vs sideways issue for the Group and added some information to our Group's photos, Links and Files areas which I'll try to post here in 3 following comments (if YouTube supports links in comments.
Note how hard you make it on your group if you try to cross facing upstream.. All four people are taking the full force of the water. They would have found it easier facing toward the opposite bank with the strongest hiker on the upstream side and the other hikers providing downstream support. You have more choice for foot placement facing forward toward your objective than when walking sideways and the outside people can use their poles more effectively when facing toward the objective.
And try this one:
groups.yahoo.com/group/johnmuirtrail/photos/album/802272532/pic/list
Yahoo group links are notoriously unreliable, but if you go to
groups.yahoo.com
you can search for the group named JohnMuirTrail
and then go to the photos, links and files areas (open to non-members) and you should be able to find this.
Thanks for posting the video. It is very useful in letting people know what to expect on the trail.
John
JohnCurranLadd 8 months ago
And this, which includes (4th file down) an explanation of why facing forward helps
groups.yahoo.com/group/johnmuirtrail/files/Safety%2C%20health%20and%20first%20aid/
John
JohnCurranLadd 8 months ago
Try to cut and paste this in a browser
groups.yahoo.com/group/johnmuirtrail/links/Trailcraft_001262977195/Stream_srossing_techniques_001300486416/
Make sure you remove any spaces that creep into it
JohnCurranLadd 8 months ago
In response to Owen's question: I'm reasonably experienced about it. Started hiking in the Sierra in 1969 and now spend about 30 days a year backpacking, mostly in the Sierra. I'm co-moderator of the JohnMuirTrail Group at Yahoo and investigated the face-forward vs sideways issue for the Group and added some information to our Group's photos, Links and Files areas which I'll try to post here in 3 following comments (if YouTube supports links in comments.
JohnCurranLadd 8 months ago
John - thanks for note - what is your experience level? have you tried your suggested method? in the sierras?
owenmccarty 8 months ago
Note how hard you make it on your group if you try to cross facing upstream.. All four people are taking the full force of the water. They would have found it easier facing toward the opposite bank with the strongest hiker on the upstream side and the other hikers providing downstream support. You have more choice for foot placement facing forward toward your objective than when walking sideways and the outside people can use their poles more effectively when facing toward the objective.
JohnCurranLadd 8 months ago