The going was harder along the stream bank than through the timber. Streams have a habit of picking out the most impossible places to cut through hillsides, wash away soft ground and form ravines or deposit large stones and boulders. If the airmen were not floundering around in mud, they were slipping over rocks or climbing up steep banks. All of these obstacles were in addition to those normally found in a forest, such as tangled vines under foot, thick underbrush, numerous tree trunks and a myriad of ferns. It was a case of forging ahead as best they could.