Apollyon

Originally Posted by dangerdave

Update! Four day hike turn into two!

Well, some lessons learned, here:

1) Don't trust the weather man! Highs in the 70s, NOT! Lows in the 60s, NO! The rain brought in cooler temp on Tuesday. The hollow where camp 6 was located dropped into the 40s Tuesday night after the rain ended. The skies cleared (not predicted), the moon came out, and temp plummeted past what I was prepared for. How could they be 20 degrees off?! My light summer sleeping bag was inadequate, even with my light long underwear on. I didn't shiver, but I was disturbed by goose bumps all night when the cool air seeped into my bag. Not fun! The tent worked great, as did my wonderful umbrella (thanks Wired!) to keep off the rain, and hail, and wind! (see #2 below).

2) Pay attention to the weather man! It wasn't raining when I awoke Wednesday morning. It was very cool, but a hot cup of coffee and a few Pop Tarts got me going. I packed up my wet tent, preformed my morning "camp chores" and checked my phone for messages. There was an urgent message from my wife telling me that severe weather was headed my way. Watches and warnings had popped up ahead of an upper level trough cutting across southern Ohio. Big storms had already formed, with high winds, hail, possible tornadoes and torrential rain. As I reloaded my pack, noting some items I would be shedding, I pondered my choices. I was 10 miles from my truck after Tuesday's hike in, and it was another 10 miles to the next camp I was aiming for. But the storms and my bag had me thinking. My wife's message had a tone of worry, the one I've learned to listen to (or maybe I'm just well trained). If I hiked to the next camp, I'd be committed to whatever weather was coming, and to my thin summer bag. I decided to err with safety and promptly heading for my truck. Two days were better than none. On the way to my truck, I passed through three thunderstorms. Two of them as I crossed the last ridge before the trail head. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced! Cold rain blowing sideways, pea-sized hail, lightening blasting all around. Parts of the trail turned into washes. Stopping was pointless (or dangerous), so I munched Cliff Bars and kept going. By the time I reached my truck, I had climbed over or bushwhacked around five huge trees that had been blown down in the storms. It was just crazy! I got to the trail head around 2pm and called my wife to tell her I was on my way home. She was relieved, to say the least. That evening (yesterday) the storms got much worse over the whole area. The place where I would have been camping was right in the middle of it all. No doubt, I had made a good choice.

What I learned (despite the above): That cheap summer bag is trash! I'm taking my warmer bag on the AT. If it's warm, I'll sleep on top, but I will not spend another night in the woods being cold. I've got a few things to ditch from my pack. My food choices are going to work out great! And my Chrome Dome trekking umbrella is awesome!!! Do I need tot say that again. AWESOME! It was my saving grace though days of rain and storms. I will never hike without it!