Low water crossing before Cottonwood Campground, San Juan, New Mexico

[bigsallysmom]

We recently returned from a trip to the Cottonwood Campground below the dam at Navajo Lake, New Mexico.  There is a low water crossing near the entrance to the park.  It was obvious that flash floods there are full of sand and tiny gravel.  Road clearing crews had to scrape down a foot to pavement and shoved the debris off to the side.   

How do you know if it's safe to go across?  I can envision pulling my travel trailer through an inch or two, but twelve or more?  How do you determine if it's safe?  We only use campgrounds due to electrical needs.  Do you wait for crews to come and dig it out?  Do you put it into 4x4 and hit it?

 

[highdesertranger]

no, no don't put it in 4x4 and hit it. lots of people get in trouble that way. get out, hopefully you have a walking stick. check the depth with the walking stick. walk through the water testing the depth. note if it's flash flooding don't even try it. if the current is to strong for you to check it don't try it. sometimes if the water is clear you can tell from the bank. water is nothing to mess with so don't. if you are unsure don't do it. once you have experience you will laugh at my advice because you can tell by looking, but until then be safe not sorry. highdesertranger

 

[Charlotte's Web]

...if you are unsure don't do it.  once you have experience you will laugh at my advice because you can tell by looking,  but until then be safe not sorry. 

Stranger this is valuable advice.  Your presence on this forum is a gift.  I mean it.  Thanks for being here.

Charlotte

 

[bigsallysmom]

But what about afterward when theres a foot of wet sand?

 

[highdesertranger]

actually if we are talking sand, wet sand is much better to drive on then dry sand(sugar sand). now there is a huge difference between wet sand and mud. stay out of mud. if you get caught in the back country and a storm blows through if the roads are muddy wait it out. usually at least out west a couple of days of sun and the mud is gone. be prepared have extra food and water. this will all come with experience. highdesertranger

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I have a pair of 16" rubber boots and a pair of hip waders that never leave my truck unless they're on my feet. They've come in handy so many times when going off road I can't even count them. Great for scouting my run before going thru mud or water and great for when you get stuck in mud and water and you have to pull out the recovery gear.

 

[TrainChaser]

I don't drive into moving water. I was raised in the desert and lots of people have tried it, and most of them died. If you don't have some kind of real emergency, what's the rush?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Here's a semi-related fact that some of you might find amusing.

I'd like to visit Iceland someday.  I've read the Lonely Planet guidebook to Iceland.  About a third of their roads are paved, and of course, have bridges.  Many of the smaller roads leading inland are merely gravel, and instead of bridges have fords.  These are mostly small streams, fed by melting glaciers, so water flow can vary markedly, depending on time of year and even on time of day - the water will be lower first thing in the morning, and rise later in the day as the sun causes melting.

Anyway, the guidebook recommends taking both a life jacket and a rope with you.  You stop your vehicle, and if it looks passable, you walk across, wearing your life jacket and with the rope tied to you and to your car.  If you've misjudged the water flow and you are swept off your feet, the life jacket will keep you from drowning, and the rope will keep you from being washed downstream.

I am not making this shit up.

Supposedly, they lose a few tourists every year who drown trying to cross these fords.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Was it this deep?

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[highdesertranger]

older diesel have a big advantage when driving through deep water because the engine doesn't need electricity to run you can submerge the whole engine at it will run fine. keep the air intake above water and you can drive through any water. it also helps to keep the mechanical fan above water and the exhaust but not critical if you know what your doing. highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

Hip waders are dangerous if you fall and they fill, clip a knife on the strap maybe.

 

[TrainChaser]

And if the water is to your waist.

 

[Thirsty Boots Nomad]

And if the water is to your waist.

I would hope, if you're checking water depth that you're thinking of driving a vehicle through, by the time the water is approaching your waist you have decided driving through would be ill advised (unless you are severely vertically challenged).

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

It isn't necessarily the depth of the water, it's whether it's moving and how fast.

Lots of YouTube videos of 4 wheelers running through still or barely flowing water 3 or 4 feet deep.

It's fast moving water that can carry a car downstream and cause disaster.

There is special prep needed on vehicles that do that.

There are breathers on top of axles and transmissions to let air in or out.  These get hoses clamped on them which are run into the engine compartment above the water level.

Cut off switches are installed in the electric radiator fan circuit to keep it off during the water crossing.

Engine computers and similar electronics are relocated as needed.

Heck, some of them will gut their interiors and coat all the inside metal with bed liner!

 

[highdesertranger]

I would advise against crossing any water that's is knee deep and if it is that deep you better check for holes. now once you get experience you will know your limits and above knee deep might be perfectly fine. if you boondock in the west you will have to do water crossings it's just a way of life. even in the desert there are water crossings. the more unimproved the road the more chance for water crossings. like I said before don't try it during a flash flood, wait it out. carry a walking stick and recovery equipment. highdesertranger

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Hip waders are dangerous if you fall and they fill, clip a knife on the strap maybe.

They can be dangerous,  waders even more so.  I've used hip boots and waders my entire life fly fishing.  I've also purposely let them fill to see what it feels like and how i'd react.   I'd recomend others do the same......in a controlled environment non moving water or swimming pool and with others around to help if needed.  When fishing with them I wear a life vest that inflates with a CO2 cartridge.  Don't know it's there til you need it.  

I ALWAYS carry a knife,  a small folding knife  clipped in my front pocket at minimum and leatherman on my belt.

I have this one.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...VAhFpCh1z9gLjEAQYASABEgJ_jPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

We recently returned from a trip to the Cottonwood Campground below the dam at Navajo Lake, New Mexico.  There is a low water crossing near the entrance to the park . . . Road clearing crews had to scrape down a foot to pavement and shoved the debris off to the side . . . How do you know if it's safe to go across? . . .

Talk to whomever manages the park.  They should know what vehicles will have trouble, when/if flooding is expected, and how long before one can cross again.  Plus you are letting them know you are there; maybe they will be a little faster with clearing crews.

 -- Spiff

 

[sometimesido]

stay out of mud.     highdesertranger

Haha, this reminds me of a time in basic training for my M1A1 Tank Crewman field drive training.  Commander told us to gun it down a muddy/watery area and guess what? We got stuck and it was so deep that the driver's hole was taking water/mud in. Kind of like the attached picture, but deeper. Good times. Back to the thread, listen to highdesertranger.



Yes, I've been a tanker, medic, and other things.  Did you know you can go sideways/drift in a tank that weighs 62 metric tons? Ask me how I know.

 

[highdesertranger]

ok I am asking how do you drift a tank? I remember seeing footage of Patton moving his Army to relieve Bastogne his tanks were slipping and sliding all over the place on the ice. highdesertranger