Ned's comments are in the thread here (I requested quote permission from him):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2023jmt/posts/1663620644082370/
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I am quoting Ned's comments below.? Comments in brackets are mine:
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Quote (from Ned): "What we’re talking about, here, is trying to devise a “safe” or minimally risky way to wade a deep, fast moving, inclined, boulder-strewn crossing of a RIVER.
The South Fork of the San Joaquin River at this location and after the huge winter the region has had (hence the bridge being out) is no creek!
No one should be attempting an immersion crossing of any River in the Sierra this year during the Thaw - with or without a pack on!
Also, do not use ropes as high-lines held onto with one hand as they move and sway and give you a false sense of security.
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If a waterway is steep, deep, wide, and full of wild whitewater, DO NOT CROSS! Turn around or search far upstream for a wide, calm, slow, shallow, smooth-bottomed location where you can cross within your skill set!
Even if a high-line could be set up to ferry equipment across, everyone still has to get in the River.
This is not a safe crossing method that I’ve ever taught or endorsed.
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Lisa [who asked a question about crossing near MTR], people do not appreciate the force of water until they’ve been pushed by a wave at the beach. Then, suddenly, they realize it has weight and force and is an entity to be respected!
All it takes is a trip, stumble, misplaced pole-plant, slight pain, or just an eddy in the current to knock you over in a waist deep current and now you’re struggling for your life.
Just because some noted and published person did it with apparent ease and confidence doesn’t mean it’s a foolproof and safe method for all.
Thigh-deep is my max depth. If a crossing has a channel that’s deeper than that, I’m looking upstream for a different site.
Any waterway that runs across your path that drains thousands of mountaintop acres miles away and a few thousand feet higher in elevation than where you are right now, I hold in high regard, with extreme respect, and probably won’t cross until all the odds are stacked in my favor.
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Lisa [who asked another question about it possibly being safer later in the summer and then near MTR], yes and only then! I have waded across the SFSJ River at the MTR to get to the hot spring on the other side, but only when the water was as deep as my leather boots were tall!""
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Roleigh Martin