On the prior page, I said we found an area that looked like we could cross at "current flow rates." One thing newbie outdoorsman often don't know is that river flow rates change all day long. The reasons for this are quite obvious, but I'll explain. The left picture was taken at 9:35am and the one on the right at 7:00pm. The water in the river is not coming from some random fire-hydrant someone left running. It comes from snow melt. As the Earth warms during the day, the snow melts faster and faster. This produces more runoff in the afternoon. There is also another mechanism at work and that is travel time. The snow melting along the river's path might be many miles away. If you assume snow is say 12 miles from your location and rivers typically run between 6 and 12MPH, the changes in snow melt would take 1 to 2 hours to show up at your location.
Other things that can impact flow rates include rain and the failure of natural dams. A common and dangerous mistake made by many new to the outdoors, is to cross a river or creek in the morning and get stranded on the other side. Something I learned the hard way in my early teens. Late evening (near sunset), is usually the highest flow rate.
There is a small storm system coming in and I'm noodling over all of this as we gather our things for our day hike to the waterfall. I bring everything necessary to survive a night in the woods should we find it impossible to cross back.
In this morning crossing under overcast skies, I use the natural contours of the river to aid my crossing. The flow of the river often makes sand and rock bars and I exploit one to cross the bulk of the distance. The water on the far side is the deepest and fastest. Dawg is a super observer and generally is quite accurate in his replication of my efforts. You can see just how easily he starts being swept down river when forced to swim. Now you know why I was so insistent that we get a dog that would break the 50lb barrier. For these types of crossings you need a strong swimmer. Pure bred Australian Cattle Dogs (ACD) range from 25-45lbs. I was very concerned if we got one at the smaller end of the scale, that these types of crossings would be too much for a smaller dog. That is why we started looking for Blue Healers (a variety of ACD), that were accidentally mixed with a German Shepard or Lab. Dawg's mom was a purebred ACD (not the blue healer variety), but his father was a mutt. Dawg weighs 59lbs - something that is difficult to predict when buying a puppy.
On our way across, we have the advantage of starting upstream and walking downstream. On the way back, it will be more difficult as we must start downstream and I worry about dog being able to swim to the sandbar before being swept around the corner as the river bends. It is critical to also investigate the river conditions downstream for dangerous obstacles in the event of such an occurrence. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. If you get swept downriver, you want plenty of time to continue your efforts toward shore without worrying about running into lethal river conditions.