Serious question, I began verifying river crossings on my route maps. Thoughts?

It prevented a dangerous mistake in the Sierra last year. I think this should be STANDARD practice.

3 comments

3 Comments

Why do we so often take old information at face value without double checking it? Like @calebp50 said, his buddy trusted an old map and it almost got him in trouble. I see this all the time with stuff like news articles or even cooking recipes where people don't look at the date. It's a habit that can lead to small messes or big problems, depending on what you're doing. Verifying things should just be a normal part of how we do things, not just for hiking.

the_logan1mo ago

Sometimes old info is the best info. A lot of new stuff online is just wrong or changed to push an ad. That old map was made by people who actually walked the land, not just copied a digital file. Constant checking for updates is a waste of time for most things. Trusting a source that worked before makes more sense than doubting everything.

calebp501mo ago

Two summers ago my buddy Mark relied on an old forest service map showing a bridge over the Lewis River. He got to the spot and found just pylons, the bridge washed out years prior. That detour added a cold, risky ford and nearly a full day to his trip. He double checks every crossing with ranger districts or recent trip reports now, won't even look at a map that doesn't note the source and date. It turned a simple oversight into what could have been a real bad situation.