Fisher field crossing

[Mike]

As iv never been that far just wondering how the river crossing in fisher field would fare at this time of yr. Is it still ok to cross earler spring with the rain weve had. Is it just a case of higher water levels or does ot actually get a flow going? Im sure ive read somewhere that because its so wide when the water is higher its still fairly slow going or have i just made that up
Be grateful of anyone having done this crossing in wetter weather to share their knowledge. Seems a way out to have to go back if uncrossable

[padonbike]

I would imagine that any snow melt would contribute to the height of the river, but the most noticeable differences in height come from prolonged and/or intense rain.

In any case, the low temperature of the water at this time of year is likely to be prohibitive.
Think about how you would dry yourself and warm yourself up on the Larachantivore side.
(At least if you quit the attempt you can scurry back to the bothy and warm yourself up).

Remember, even in warmish late May conditions, and with lower levels, it is still a wide and intimidating stretch of water to cross.
PS it's Fisherfield

[Bearbonesnorm]

You'll be reet.

[In Reverse]

When you thinking of going Mike?

I'm now considering this for early April as my original plan of The Holy Trail looks like its going to be ruined by COVID-19.

[whitestone]

In 2017 I asked Ian Fitz about the Sealga river levels after rain and his answer was "Ask Jenny" So I did. She reckoned that after heavy rain it took about 2hrs for the levels to begin to fall once the rain stopped.

A steady wind up the loch can also cause the water to back up and for large waves to form, I think it was Phil Clarke who told me that. That's probably what causes the gravel bars at the river mouth. Apart from Google earth satellite images which show the bars pretty well, https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Str ... 67!4d-5.25 this is a good shot of the mouth.



Snow melt is obviously different and things really depend on how much snow there is and how sudden/strong the thaw is. Still on the HT route, those burns you cross on the Ben Alder singletrack almost dryshod? A few years ago Cath and I did a circuit of Ben Alder. We stopped in Benalder Cottage and overnight the snow (maybe half a metre's worth) melted and it also began raining. We had to build cairns as stepping stones in the middle of the burns! They were just torrents.

[Mike]

Cheers bob.
Andy, iv just been considering riding it end of march but think ill wait now till my leave start of may. Longer days and warmer hopefully

[sean_iow]

This was mid-crossing in 2018. I was a bit worried about it in the run-up to the event. My only regret is that I didn't walk back and ride across. It was only just above my ankle at the deepest. You might get lucky and get the same early May?

[boxelder]

In 2015 it was just under 1m deep, with waves increasing (and decreasing) that due to the wind down the loch. The current still wasn't strong. I remember fatbike tyres were causing floaty issues. Last year was deeper by the look of photos (not sure how tall the guy is).

[sean_iow]

Dustin isn't very tall but it would have still been quite deep, assuming it's the picture of him taken from behind with his bike on his back?

[fatbikephil]

Didn't Mart on here get to it and there was a significant flow of water out into the loch thanks to some particularly wet weather), causing a retreat to the Bothy??
In normal wet weather its fine, just stick to the GPX track as thats pretty much on the gravel bar.

Andy when we did it 2015 I think we were a wee bit up stream of the bar (which was covered in foot high waves) hence the epic depth......

[Mart]

Yep I did it last year, after 3 days of significant all day heavy rain.

It was waist deep, and flowing strongly enough to sweep me downstream about 50m off my original intended line. I usd the bike for stability but noted from the race picture that Dustin held his overhead. Not sure which is better.
Matt McWhirr was behind me at that point but he elected not to cross.

It’s pretty consistent all the way across so if you can do the first 10 feet it doesn’t get any worse

Previous year it wasn't even ankle deep with so little rain