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fiddlehead
06-27-2006, 22:49
I hear from my friends and family back in PA that it has rained aprox 10 inches in the past few days with up to 3 more expected in the next day or two.
It brings back memories of my thru-hike in '95 when it rained 11 inches while we came thru the Shenendoahs.
The trail was a creek, the water was oozing out of the ground almost everywhere and it was a challenge keeping anything dry.
I also remember that almost everyone later claimed that they hiked thru it yet i only saw one other thru-hiker actually on the trail walking during the rain.
I also remember being in the Maine "wilderness" in '91 when a hurricane came thru and we fit 10 hikers into one of those older style maine shelters that was built for about 4. It really came down. And was very cold also. My boots took about 30 minutes for me to kick into them in the morning. (before running shoes were the norm)
Both of these memories happened before Frogg Toggs were out there so it was a lot harder to stay dry when it rained cats and dogs.
So my question here is: How many of you actually go out and hike in those really big storms?

Skidsteer
06-27-2006, 23:27
So my question here is: How many of you actually go out and hike in those really big storms?

Not on purpose. But I've been caught out in them(hurricanes of 2004;weathermen are pathological liars).

If you're caught, you're caught. :rolleyes:

Skyline
06-27-2006, 23:33
Chances are the Class of '03 had to hike in some monsoons.

BooBoo
06-27-2006, 23:57
In '98 we got El Nino! 38 days of rain all in a row! I felt like freakin' Noah!

Ridge
06-28-2006, 00:00
if You Hike It....it Will Rain

Grizzley_Bear
06-28-2006, 08:15
When I was "section hiking" earlier this spring I felt like I was getting shafted whenever it would rain or my feet would hurt. I had heard the saying no rain, no pain, no maine and could not understand why I would be wrongfully abused. I had no intentions of ever going to Maine so why was I fitting into the saying. I just bought my train ticket to Portland, ME yesterday and now feel a lot better about my torture earlier this year. But no I dont intentionally hike in the rain unless my destination is a town or something. I even took an extra zero day in Fontana because the forcast said rain and it rained that morning but let up later in the day like it typically does in the Smokies.

1Pint
06-28-2006, 08:24
I love hiking in the rain. Even the busiest trails empty of hikers but the animals still go about their daily activities. Once saw a big, beautiful turtle crossing the towpath trail that is typically a zoo of bicycles, baby joggers (and their parents), and cross country teams running in packs. On that same rainy hike, also watched a gorgeous buck walk down the trail straight toward me before he realized I was there and he slowly made his way off the trail before bounding through the river and into the woods (don't know if he was going to Grandma's house.)

That said, don't know how I'd do with a week or more of straight rain and muddy trail. Probably not good.

TOW
06-28-2006, 08:26
i'll never forget one storm in july of 2001 while i was hiking the trail right north of wayensborro.....the sun was shining one minute, then the clouds seem to have come out of nowhere and all at once it began to pour straight down very hard.......! rivers were forming! it rained like this for 20 minutes at least.......then the sun returned as if nothing happened.......i tried to hike but my boots filled and overflowed with water and my pack too.........everything was soaked........

Footslogger
06-28-2006, 08:27
Chances are the Class of '03 had to hike in some monsoons.
=====================================
That is an understatement. What made 2003 different wasn't the fact that it rained ...it was the fact that it just kept on raining, and raining and raining.

'Slogger

Newb
06-28-2006, 08:31
If it's a hot day just grab your soap and take a shower.

TOW
06-28-2006, 08:47
If it's a hot day just grab your soap and take a shower.
yeah, i did that a few times out there....one time while i was doing a zero at the groundhog shelter between davenport and hot springs it had been raining all day with lightning and thunder....once the lightning quit right around noon it continued to just come straight down, so i get my soap out and take the clothes off and jumped right out in front of the shelter and go to scrubbing......after i had bathed for at least 15 minutes with my back to the shelter area the kid in me comes out and i start dancing in the rain so to speak......after about 10 minutes of this graceful behavior as i began to turn around and head back into the shelter i hear someone whistle.........! there are two guys and two ladies.......! i start apologizing and head for the shelter....! one gent says no problem as he looks at the others and continues to say i think we'll just do the same..........they did...! it was an awesome experience to say the least.........

weary
06-28-2006, 08:48
I hear from my friends and family back in PA that it has rained aprox 10 inches in the past few days with up to 3 more expected in the next day or two.
It brings back memories of my thru-hike in '95 when it rained 11 inches while we came thru the Shenendoahs.
The trail was a creek, the water was oozing out of the ground almost everywhere and it was a challenge keeping anything dry.
I also remember that almost everyone later claimed that they hiked thru it yet i only saw one other thru-hiker actually on the trail walking during the rain.
I also remember being in the Maine "wilderness" in '91 when a hurricane came thru and we fit 10 hikers into one of those older style maine shelters that was built for about 4. It really came down. And was very cold also. My boots took about 30 minutes for me to kick into them in the morning. (before running shoes were the norm)
Both of these memories happened before Frogg Toggs were out there so it was a lot harder to stay dry when it rained cats and dogs.
So my question here is: How many of you actually go out and hike in those really big storms?
I hated to leave a dry shelter and head out into the rain. I didn't seem to mind being caught in a rain once I left a shelter. And of course, "no rain, no pain, no Maine."

Well, that used to be true. I have the impression that some "thru" hikers skip sections that are inconvenient to hike, making Maine more likely even for those who spend many days avoiding getting wet.

Weary

Kerosene
06-28-2006, 08:52
In August 1976 I embarked on my first solo backpacking trip, hoping to hike from central Massachusetts to Gorham. Six days in, between Kid Gore Lean-to and Manchester Center, I had the pleasure of hiking underneath the remains of a hurricane that had come up the East Coast and settled over New England. It dumped 14" of rain that day, one inch for each mile I managed. The trail was flooded in many places. I still wore these big, high-top green leather workboots (but they did have Vibram soles!) which became ankle weights. About 12 miles in I stepped in a big puddle and my foot got stuck in the mud. As I pulled out my leg I ended up pulling my Achilles tendon, so now I was both wet and injured. I ended up having to hobble out the 6 miles to VT-11 where I caught a ride into town and ended up catching a bus back home when I finally realized that I wasn't going to be able to keep going.

By the way, this was the storm where I realized how incredibly cold rain can be when it's dropping from 50,000 feet. I was freezing in my poncho and chaps. I always walk in my Frogg Toggs jacket in a heavy, cold rain.

Ender
06-28-2006, 09:22
In '98 we got El Nino! 38 days of rain all in a row! I felt like freakin' Noah!

You speak the truth... it just never let up. Ever. Got so I really started to enjoy it though, and once it was hot I didn't even bother putting on rain gear, which made for surprisingly pleasant hiking. I have a great photo of me pouring water out of my boots.

Good times!:sun

gdwelker
06-28-2006, 09:56
I find that if I have to hike in lots of rain it works best if I change my mindset from dressing for hiking to dressing for kayaking. As long as you're not near freezing, I let myself get wet and let the insulating layers I use for kayaking work.

Alligator
06-28-2006, 10:05
Short of a hurricane, if I'm scheduled to hike, I go.

Footslogger
06-28-2006, 10:17
Short of a hurricane, if I'm scheduled to hike, I go.
==================================
I used to say and do that prior to my thru in 2003. Memories of being wet/damp weeks on end have somewhat softened my resolve.

'Slogger

Ewker
06-28-2006, 10:33
I really don't like to start out a hike in the rain but I will. If I am on the trail and it rains it doesn't bother me.

In Tenn. you got to watch out for thunderstorms that can produce some tornado's. I have canceled trips for those.

Alligator
06-28-2006, 10:40
==================================
I used to say and do that prior to my thru in 2003. Memories of being wet/damp weeks on end have somewhat softened my resolve.

'SloggerTry not to PO the rain gods next time! It will be a long time before I get any extended stretches like that. Until then,

Let it rain, let it snow,
into the wet I shall go.
Take my feet to the places
and my soul to the spaces
that only a wanderer knows.

mingo
06-28-2006, 10:41
the '03 thruhikers never stopped whining about the rain. it was pathetic. you would have thought no one else had ever had to hike in the rain

Footslogger
06-28-2006, 10:43
the '03 thruhikers never stopped whining about the rain. it was pathetic. you would have thought no one else had ever had to hike in the rain
=========================
You hiked in '03 ??

'Slogger

mingo
06-28-2006, 11:08
=========================
You hiked in '03 ??

'Slogger

yes i did, mr. slogger. i only did the top half of the trail that year, starting in HF the first of july. aside from a few afternoon thunderstorms, mostly in vermont, it rained on me one day and that was my next-to-last day in maine. so i lucked out. i think i started hiking about the time it stopped raining that year.

Footslogger
06-28-2006, 11:22
aside from a few afternoon thunderstorms, mostly in vermont, it rained on me one day and that was my next-to-last day in maine. so i lucked out. i think i started hiking about the time it stopped raining that year.
===================================
Well ...I guess I understand your earlier comment then. For those of us pathetic hikers who started at Springer in Feb or March it was a different experience. Maybe no worse than any other year ??

Guess you just had to be there ...

'Slogger

Ender
06-28-2006, 12:10
===================================
Well ...I guess I understand your earlier comment then. For those of us pathetic hikers who started at Springer in Feb or March it was a different experience. Maybe no worse than any other year ??

Guess you just had to be there ...

'Slogger

From what I understand, '98 and '03 were very comparable. I grew to like the rain a lot. Even today, every time it rains it instantly brings me right back to the trail in my mind. Heck, last time I went hiking I purpously went just because it was supposed to rain! :sun

Footslogger
06-28-2006, 12:20
[quote=Ender]I grew to like the rain a lot. Even today, every time it rains it instantly brings me right back to the trail in my mind.
=====================================
Can't say that I ever grew to like it ...but it did learn to deal with it. On the other hand, I know exactly what you mean about a good rain and memories. Sometimes the water hitting me in the head in the shower is all it takes.

'Slogger

mingo
06-28-2006, 12:33
[quote=Ender]I grew to like the rain a lot. Even today, every time it rains it instantly brings me right back to the trail in my mind.
=====================================
Can't say that I ever grew to like it ...but it did learn to deal with it. On the other hand, I know exactly what you mean about a good rain and memories. Sometimes the water hitting me in the head in the shower is all it takes.

'Slogger

in '03, all you had to do was mention the concept of rain, say something like "hey, it looks it might rain sometime in the future," and you were subjected to a torrent of whining from every nobo within earshot. it could have been a month since it last rained. it didn't matter. they were traumatized.

Footslogger
06-28-2006, 12:40
[quote=Footslogger]

in '03, all you had to do was mention the concept of rain, say something like "hey, it looks it might rain sometime in the future," and you were subjected to a torrent of whining from every nobo within earshot. it could have been a month since it last rained. it didn't matter. they were traumatized.
====================================
Most of the hikers I met who chose to whine about it ended up getting off the trail. That said ...it WAS the topic of a lot of conversation.

'Slogger

Singe03
06-28-2006, 12:41
the '03 thruhikers never stopped whining about the rain. it was pathetic. you would have thought no one else had ever had to hike in the rain


es i did, mr. slogger. i only did the top half of the trail that year, starting in HF the first of july. aside from a few afternoon thunderstorms, mostly in vermont, it rained on me one day and that was my next-to-last day in maine.

So your position is, since you saw only a little rain in the northern part of the trail after a July start it must have been the same for those on the southern part of the trail a couple months earlier?

I dont remember a whole lot of bad weather beyond the occasional thunderstorm north of the Waynesboro in the summer either, the early months in the south however were quite different.

Back to the original question though, there were alot of us getting up every morning, pulling on frigid, soaking wet clothes and saturated boots and heading further north. On the nice sunny days (the few I remember before late May), alot of us were tending to pull up short in the early afternoon at a nice campsite with a view or shelter and hang everything out to dry, rain days were for hiking, nice days were for drying out. I swear, next time I'm there and it's storming, I will take the foul weather bypass around Wildcat instead of convincing myself that "it does not look so bad".

I did learn that no matter how much rain you got, or how bad the storm was, you can do the Appalachian Trail with a Hennessey Hammock and a down sleeping bag and be just fine if you are a little careful.

mingo
06-28-2006, 13:48
So your position is, since you saw only a little rain in the northern part of the trail after a July start it must have been the same for those on the southern part of the trail a couple months earlier?

no, i was just telling mr. slogger my own experience, since he asked. i know there was record rainfall in may that year.

fiddlehead
06-28-2006, 21:57
Well, from what i've been reading on the "net" , the hikers out there now are getting it pretty bad. Most NOBO should be in the mid-atlantic states (VA,MD,PA,NJ,NY) and these states seem to be getting hammered right now. I'm looking at pictures from PA and MD on my computer in hot and sunny Thailand right now and thinking of those wet days where nothing ever seemed to get dry. Good luck to all who are out there.

Time To Fly 97
06-29-2006, 10:33
I love hiking in heavy rain. The last was a weekend in the Berkshires during that last hurricane (Betsy?). Did mount Everett at night - so much fun. Tree to tree up the side of the trail which had 1 foot of raging water on climbs and just walking through it on flats. It was loud with sheeting rain and wind. Kept doing the checks: no pain, not hypothermic, not dehydrated, etc. Smile and nod.

But if you have the right gear, and you pack with heavy rain in mind, it is an experience to not miss. Great sleeping in my Hennessey Hammock, high and dry.

TTF

knicksin2010
07-02-2006, 12:46
Yeah, I just finished a section hike from HF to DWG, and we got hit pretty good. Crossing under Route 81 the trail was under at least 6-10 ft of water. We were able to find a spot where it was only 4 feet deep picked our packs over our head and crossed. I stoped in the middle to have my picture taken. I hear the Delaware was 30 feet above flood levels and they were busing people around it.

It was fun for awhile, like walking up and down a big water slide a foot deep, but after 5 days pf hiking with wet feet it did a number on my feet, and it forced me to go on a shelter schuele for a few days. We were all becoming terrified of the rain