Mary
I had been asked to pick up a very basic Cessna 150 and move it to another airfield some 80 nm away.
The aircraft flew well but had not one piece of working navaids fitted.
I had a radio so pure VFR.
The weather was not good with an overcast sky at 1000 feet and slight rain.
The area was surrounded by a chain of hills and high ground so I elected to follow a river which winded its way to within a couple of hundred meters of my destination.
I reckoned that if things got worse and I kept the river right under me I could not possibly hit high ground.
As I followed the river I was being forced down by a lowering cloudbase and visibility which was fast dropping in heavier rain and mist.
I was now horrified to find I was scud running ie chopping in and out of cloud at 400 feet AGL with visibility down to 1000 meters.
The river was getting harder to see and I did not want to go lower plus the cloud had moved in behind me to so turning back was not an option, neither was turning left or right into high ground.
The cloud chopping got worse with now just occasional glimpses of the river below.
Now at 400 feet I had cloud below as well.
Thats it!!!! I went for full power and climbed into IMC to 2500 feet.
My intention was to get radar from a Military base I knew well and get a PAR off them.
Luckily that was not needed as I turned west and broke clear of the front and clouds.
So yes and no following rivers
Pace