Agreed on the rivers and the feasibility of 'crossing' this one - this ain't the Montlake Cut, or even the wide Mississippi. Fraser River valleys and most others in the PNW are cold, snow melt rivers, very cold, very fast, lots of currents, eddies, rapids, numerous hidden snags formed from downed timber. You generally don't swim in them, you sure don't want to fall into them, or wade very far out fishing. You need a PFD and helmet to survive in most enter-the-river-current scenarios out here. Your chances greatly decline without them. My comments were on the lines of "if you had to cross a river" - which I'm not going to do if stuck by avalanche up the Fraser Valley.