your shoulders, and ready to drop instantly ; for if 

 you fall down with a tightly tied or strapped pack, 

 you will not come up until you have lost all interest 

 in the undertaking. 



A 



_,^_ „ r-^nT^7■xr^ ^^ t^^fc arc three or four in the 



POLE FORDING , . , , , , , 



party, decide on the best rord, 



usually the widest stretch. Cut a slender pole, 



between eight and twelve feet long, and at least 



two and a half inches in diameter at the small end. 



You can always find balsams or alders on almost 



any glacier stream, except in high altitudes, and 



there the streams are small and the fording easy. 



It is a good plan to take off your trousers, as 

 there will be less resistance to the water ; but keep 

 on your footgear or the round glacial boulders will 

 grind your ankles. When all are ready, fetand in a 

 line and grasp the pole. The lightest man (A) 

 should be on the up-stream, and the heaviest man 

 (B) on the down-stream end of the pole. A's 

 pack and clothes should be distributed among the 

 others, as they need weight, and A will be under 

 water occasionally. 



Now all start across in line, walking down 

 stream, always keeping the pole parallel with the 

 current. As the water deepens, A may be swept 

 from his feet, but he must hold on to the pole, for 

 he is making an eddy for the others to walk in. 



If possible, always pass below rocks. The 

 ^ — — - 100 



