What crossing needs to be improved

[Emerson Bigills]

The Abol trail is really sweet. It handles some serious elevation changes, but is extremely well done. It is slow going in some rock scramble spots, but very manageable. I loved it.

[Emerson Bigills]

I think a lot of hikers that come to ME from other sections of the country have little if any experience with fords. Quite frankly, by the time you know you have a problem, you might be in the middle of the river/brook, or have already lost your footing. I did not experience any significant high water, but did see several hikers experience "near misses" and saw one hiker break his arm slipping in a brook ford.

I don't know that I advocate bridging all of them, some of the rivers just seem too wide, but a few of those brooks could be done with some investment. The "just stay away, if you don't like it" approach is a cop out to making things better for everyone.

[Another Kevin]

Bridge the major stream crossings in Maine. The Superior Hiking Trail in Minnesota faces the same bridge issues the AT in Maine does -- they have to be built to withstand the spring ice flows coming down the rivers. But the Superior Hiking Trail Association has made putting bridges over streams and rivers a priority and they are all bridged (though the bridges over the Split Rock River and Encampment River are currently out -- they are working on them) -- and there are many high volume rivers that have to be crossed (more than Maine has) in the 300 miles of trail. SHTA has a much smaller budget than MATC or ATC and yet they manage to do it. Time for the ATC and MATC to do it before future drownings make them do it.

This is probably a question for someone with an ear to the ground about Maine conditions and impact.

Are any of those Maine streams 'ice meadow' ecosystem, where there's a broad bank that gets swept clear of any standing vegetation by moving ice during the snow melt? Those are extremely rare and fragile ecosystems. I know of a couple of streams in the Adirondacks that have suspension bridges, despite being in Wilderness Areas, not for hiker safety or convenience, but to protect the ice meadow from being repeatedly trodden by hikers looking for the best spot to ford.

There's one proposed bridge in an area that requires the use of native materials except for fasteners, and DEC was able to get a determinate from The Powers That Be that the bridge cables are 'fasteners,' because everyone concerned wants the bridge: the hikers, the hunters, the environmentalists, nobody's against it. (ADK is even willing to pay for it.) It's on the list, but there are more urgent projects that keep coming up.

Anyone know if there are similar situations in Maine? Teej?

[Another Kevin]

I think a lot of hikers that come to ME from other sections of the country have little if any experience with fords. Quite frankly, by the time you know you have a problem, you might be in the middle of the river/brook, or have already lost your footing. I did not experience any significant high water, but did see several hikers experience "near misses" and saw one hiker break his arm slipping in a brook ford.

I don't know that I advocate bridging all of them, some of the rivers just seem too wide, but a few of those brooks could be done with some investment. The "just stay away, if you don't like it" approach is a cop out to making things better for everyone.

In a Wilderness Area, I'm far for sure I agree. Supposedly, any improvements there are for protection of the wilderness, not for hiker safety or convenience. Bog bridging to keep fragile vegetation from being trodden on - necessary evil. A trail is there at all only to keep the hikers from just spreading out everywhere and doing even more damage - sacrificing one narrow corridor to protect the rest. It's a complex set of tradeoffs.

And I say this as someone who has wiped out at a ford. There's nothing like the experience of swimming unexpectedly, fully clothed and wearing a backpack, in 35 degree temperatures.