Mono Creek

Before you step in

1. Unbuckle your pack hip belt and sternum strap — if you fall, you need to be able to shed the pack fast.
2. Scout upstream and downstream. Wider, slower, braided sections are almost always safer than the trail-direct line.
3. Cross early in the day during snowmelt season — water is lowest overnight and peaks mid-to-late afternoon.
4. Face upstream, sidestep across. Use trekking poles planted upstream as a third and fourth leg.
5. Keep boots on. Wet boots dry. Broken feet end trips.
6. Turn back if water is above your thighs and moving swiftly. No campsite is worth a drowning.