The 2013 Challenge, day 9: Feshie! (3)

I descended into Glen Feshie and met a couple of hardy little ponies, with varying levels of enthusiasm for being photographed. I now had about 9 kilometres of walking ahead of me just to get to the other side of the river. I tell you: we NEED that Memorial Bridge!

I recalled, however, that on my first Challenge in 2000, having crossed the Memorial Bridge, I saw somebody fording the Feshie at this point without too much difficulty ... and I began to wonder. So I bimbled across to the river bank to have a good look. There was what appeared to be a faint vehicle track approaching the river's edge; and where it met the river it certainly had the appearance of a fording place - not least because there was what looked like a vehicle track emerging from the other side. I recalled how Wellington had won one of his Indian battles - Assaye, I think it may have been - by observing the settlements on either bank and deducing that there must be a ford linking the two of them. And I decided that the same could probably be said of this. To save 9 km of walking, it was certainly worth a try!

This was plainly going to be another "trousers off" river crossing ... so for the third time this Challenge it was off with my boots, socks and trousers; on with the sandals; and into the icy cold waters of the Feshie. I turned to face upstream and edged my way out into the current. At its deepest, it was above my knees; but only by three or four inches. I could have crossed wearing a mini skirt (had I had one with me: which, of course, I hadn't) and not got the hem wet! And then, I was past the deepest, it was getting shallower, and moments later I was safely across on the far bank.