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HeadiesHiker11
04-13-2011, 22:52
:-? So this weekend I had planned a canoeing trip with a total of nine participants. The forecast for friday night is 90% chance of rain and is the same percentage for saturday except scattered thunderstorms and showers. Its only 2.5 hours away and no money is invested in the trip so far. Time to can ?or stick it out and have a wet weekend?

thanks,
Headies11:confused:

WingedMonkey
04-13-2011, 22:55
You're going canoeing and you are afraid of getting wet?

:confused:

Amanita
04-13-2011, 22:56
Thunderstorms and canoes don't mix well. Especially aluminum ones. If you do go I'd sugges a big tarp for the whole group to sit under in case you end up spending the afternoon waiting for the lightning to clear out.

grayfox
04-14-2011, 00:15
You should go. You never know=sometimes even the Weather Channel is wrong.

Just have a plan B in mind--a stove instead of campfire, stopping at the first empty campsite you get to, a car in a stratigic location if you have to bail, a big tarp for cooking and camraderie, make sure everyone has good rain gear and dry bagged clothes, and Holiday Inn on speed dial... Go.

TexasEd
04-14-2011, 00:21
Where I live those conditions produce flash floods so my answer is biased based on my experiences which may not match up in your geographic location.

Stay home and plan for the following weekend.

TIDE-HSV
04-14-2011, 00:33
I've done a lot of canoe camping and kayaking, including the Boundary Waters and the Grand Canyon. HOWEVER, with nothing invested and a short trip like that, I might think it over. One of the scariest times I've ever spent on a river was on the little Duck River, in southern middle TN, just north of where I live. The forecast turned out to be accurate and we were trapped on the river, with only one place to pull out to camp, about halfway down. The storm turned into a flash flood, with the river up in the trees and lightning bridging across the tree tops on either side of the river. It took all hands bailing to keep just a few inches of water in the bottom of the canoes. The "campsite" was a miserable swamp. If I'm committed on a long trip, I take the weather as it comes, but for a quickie weekender with no $$ invested, I'd bow to the Weather Channel...

Edit: Looking at your location, if it's where I think it is, if the destination is the Sequatchie, it's much more open and less prone to flash floods than the Duck...

HeadiesHiker11
04-14-2011, 09:11
Thanks for the input... I will be in western nc southwest va in the new river state park. No option for bailing we have to set a shuttle. Im leaning towards not going however the rest of the group dosent get out as much as myself. this is my main concern i want to give them a good experience and give them the chance to get out. but with that beig said they dont really understand my concerns. And we cannot bump it to next weekend.

Thanks for the input!

Rick500
04-14-2011, 09:13
If it was a hiking trip, I'd probably still go. But out on the water...yeah, I'd probably think twice.

Or just go hiking instead.

bulldog49
04-14-2011, 09:57
Of all the safety concerns, being struck by lightening while canoeing would be at the bottom of my list. Much more likely to be killed in an accident driving to or from, or tipping over and drowning. :eek:

TIDE-HSV
04-14-2011, 10:06
The New is a big river, one of the highest volumes east of the MS. There's no need to worry about flash floods there, just make the ride more exciting. However, the lightning would make me uncomfortable. It's a very broad and open river and a canoe would frequently be the highest object around. I do have another question, though. I don't know what part of the New you're doing, but, if these guys are novice whitewater canoeists, there are portions they wouldn't belong on. I'm sure you've looked at that...

88BlueGT
04-14-2011, 10:15
For the safety of your friends (or whomever) and yourself, I would say to stay home. Having to cancel a trip is the worrrrrrrrrrst!

garlic08
04-14-2011, 10:28
Flexibility is high on my list of virtues. I've heard of too many trips going bad, sometimes fatally, because a large group gets too inflexible to change plans and roll with the punches.

There's nothing wrong with going out in inclement weather as long as the whole group is prepared and willing. But with a group that size, there's too much danger of the one person who is not prepared or capable to not speak up and thus endanger the whole group.

By the way, this is one of my best arguments for heading out alone.

Mrs Baggins
04-14-2011, 12:01
With the hiking group I lead the rule is that I will cancel a hike no later than 5 am the day of the hike. Everyone knows to check their emails the morning of a hike before they get dressed and ready to go. I have a couple of ladies that drive 2 hours to join us from time to time so they need to know as early as possible. I've hauled myself out of bed at 3 am to double check weather reports and radar shots and had to cancel once because of a severe heat warning (it was already 85 and very humid at 3 am) that was posted on weather.com, when the skies were clear. Heat index drove that day up past 100 degrees. If I had just glanced at the sky I wouldn't have know about that warning.

DavidNH
04-14-2011, 12:30
can the trip. It's just for a weekend, as you say no $ yet invested in it, and the weather forecast isn't good. Weekend trips can be saved for good days.

max patch
04-14-2011, 12:42
I'd wait as long as practical before I made the go/no go decision.

As a current solo boater and ex kayaker I wouldn't go with a 90% chance of rain because paddling in the rain all day isn't fun.