Dry River Bridge - Is Dry River crossable without the bridge?

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J&J

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Does anyone know if the Dry River is crossable at this point without the bridge? Anyone done it recently? Thanks in advance!

From the WMNF Website:
Saco - Dry River Trail - Dry River Bridge, a 100' cable suspension bridge, apparently had debris lodge in the wind cable under the structure, pulling the main cable suspension brackets completely out of the deck beams. This bridge will be closed immediately due to safety concerns.
 
As John Belushi once said: Hhhoooolllllyyyy sh**! I was just planning something in the Dry River Wilderness, and did not know about this problem. Hopefully someone will chime in?!?!
 
Watch the forecast.

As a lad of 14, I was part of a rained out expedition that camped near the Dry River. Going back, we spent an hour getting a party of four safely across a feeder stream. The Dry River was thunderous and probably could have swept away a tugboat.
 
I found the answer to my own question. I just checked under Trail Conditions (now why didn't I think of that earlier?) and someone (jhiker) had posted this on July 29:

"The bridge is boarded up with stern warnings about its unsafe condition. The river is easily forded right by the bridge, though I took off my shoes as a precaution (plus it was nice to cool my feet)."

As long as the water level is down, it doesn't sound like a huge issue.
 
Dry River is narrow, but deep and fast. I'm pleasantly surprised that jhiker crossed easily at the bridge. Crossing probably involves hopping, as opposed to wading. I may be doing an overnight trip into the area next week, I'll report on the crossing.
 
is this the bridge that is about 1.7 miles in, or is there another at the trailhead?
 
dug said:
is this the bridge that is about 1.7 miles in, or is there another at the trailhead?

I went in a little over .7 mi last weekend (great campsite off a herd path on that trail. There isn't a bridge at the trailhead.

Dry river is fast and slippery, but there are plenty of rocks to cross on if willing to jump. Just make sure you have light, and it's not raining. I enjoyed the rock hopping experience when I did it in the higher waters of May.
 
More Dry River Questions

I keep reading how hard the Isolation Trail is to follow out of the DRW. Anyone have any experience with that?

I read about the Cessna that may be somewhere in Oakes Gulf...anyone seen it?
 
dug said:
I keep reading how hard the Isolation Trail is to follow out of the DRW. Anyone have any experience with that?

I didn't really have any trouble. There were lots of blowdowns on Isolation Trail in May, but half the trail was also covered in snow. So I'm sure it's been cleaned up by now.
 
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cantdog said:
On a side note, we ran into a ranger on his way in when we were about 1/2 a mile from 302 this morning. He said he was goin in to watch the water rise in today's rain. He did say the terrain was a dry as it has ever been.

I dont know if any of you have seen this river flash flood, but it does it quick.

We were camping on the east side a few weeks back. We returned to camp one afternoon after a horrendous downpour... we wound up hiking down 302 in crawford notch in this mess and if you were driving north on 302 that friday there is a good chance you would remember those 3 poor rainsoaked hikers...

Anyway we dried our clothes at the campground, and went swimming later that afternoon...giving the river no more thought than it was a little warmer because of the rain, but the water level was about the same as it always had been.

After swimming we picked up our boots that were drying on a rock that rose 3ft out of the water and returned to camp for dinner. Within 10 minutes I looked up again and the river looked different to me. The water level within that short period rose at least 2.5 feet. Everything was different. The rock that we had dried our boots on was now underwater

I guess the flash flood hit about 3.5 hours after the rain stopped. Might be good to know for future use, or interesting to watch....
 
We just spent the last three days and two nights in the Dry River Wilderness. Going in and going out, all the water crossings were easy. I will bet as I type this you would have great difficulty crossing by the bridge and a few of the other crossings.

Cantdog- we might have seen one of your group today. We were staying at the Dry River Cutoff site and a gentleman passed by and he mentioned that he had stayed at Shelter #3 last night and his group had it to themselves. Also, I think we hiked out partways with the ranger you passed by. We did the bridge river crossing with him. He said the level had already risen 3-4 inches since he was there earlier in the day. He was telling us that the WMNF will be replacing the bridge.

Trip report and pictures to follow.
 
Whoa. Small freaking world. I led a trip there this weekend with an AMC group. We stayed at the designated campsite at the junction with the Isolation trail--so that was our group, cantdog. We heard you pass by, and just saw the tops of some heads--too funny!

First time in the DR. Wow, what a beautiful area. But I gotta say, I wouldn't want to cross the River in higher water.

We also saw the Ranger at the bridge on our way out on Sunday. He said that they are assessing what to do about the bridge. It's in the Wilderness area, but it is a complete loss and needs to be completely rebuilt--helicopters to bring stuff in and all, which is a no, no, of course. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do.
 
A friend and I hiked down from the Nauman Tent sites on the morning of 21 August. It had rained the previous day and quite a bit that night (I believe mountwashington.org said 1.25 inches). We came down the Mt Clinton Trail (don't use this trail, especially in the wet!), and crossed the Dry River at the intersection. This crossing was a little bit difficult. One wet foot out of four.

We ran into a ranger at the Mt Clinton/Dry River intersection who said she had just come back from the bridge area to check on water level. She said it could get bad given the rain but that it was no problem that morning, and an easier crossing than the Mt Clinton.

When we got down to the bridge, I found a way to cross just south of the bridge.

My friend tried the bridge, much to my dismay. If the bridge is dangerous, maybe it should come down. It looks fine to the untrained eye and I am betting that no few people actually use it.

At any rate, the river was crossable in both places after a good amount of rain overnight.

I would bet that in the spring it's a whole 'nother story.
 
J&J said:
Does anyone know if the Dry River is crossable at this point without the bridge?

It depends on when you want to cross it. Rain in this area on Sunday and Monday, Aug. 28 and 29, has begun to swell rivers as this Saco gage shows. More rain from Katrina on Wed. and Thurs. will push local rivers even higher.
The Pemi is also rising.
 
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