Staying dry?

[Variety]

I'm going to attempt a SOBO from Baxter Park on July 1st and am worried about staying dry on the trail. I plan to go light, have a quilt (Golight Ultralight 20*), and would like to go with a tent, and will use either a ULA Circuit or Osprey Exos 58 for a pack.

I originally planned to hike the PCT south but am most likely going to abandon ship because 2011 is a really bad snow season in the Cascades and Sierras. As someone who has only been to the east coast once, I am not sure what to expect in terms of rain traveling south along the AT. Any suggestions and/or gear recommendations?

[DavidNH]

resolve yourself to the fact that you will be getting wet sooner or later.

wear only quick dry clothing. No cotton. Bring solid rain gear. Carry spacious tent. Checkout www.tarptent.com.

davidNH

[WingedMonkey]

It never rains on the AT going south, only going north.

[Chop]

Hi Variety..it just gets wet here. No real escape from it. Last year we had a great summer, with little rain up in New England.. The two prior summers were not dry. Quick dry clothes, quick dry trail runners. I switched to a hammock recently to get off the wet ground and that has worked thus far.

Will be out there on the 23rd of June heading SOBO as well.

[Grampie]

Hiking SOBO from Baxter on July 1 you better be prepaired for some wet weather. This year has been a heavy snow year and you might still find snow on the mountains. The rain well be cold and the river fords will be deep. Bring the tent, good rain gear and cloths to change into at days end. Good luck and happy trails. I would consider a good bag vs. a quilt.

[garlic08]

Another thing to consider in July in Maine is the black flies. That should be the end of the season, but there will probably be a few left. I got to ME in early July on my NOBO thru, found a few flies, and I was glad to sleep under a tarptent with netting. I slept in a shelter one night and ended up wrapping my tarptent netting around my head to get to sleep.

I would not consider hiking there without good shelter. I would leave maps behind (and I did) before my tarptent. At least bring netting.

You can pretty much count on getting wet, and maybe muddy as well, in July in New England, based on my one hike there.

[Snowleopard]

The New England portion of the AT is very beautiful; you'll like it. (I haven't been on it further south).

Bring deet and a headnet. Treat your clothes with permethrin. If you're lucky the black flies will have died down and the mosquitos won't have started, but I'd bet on the bugs in NH and ME. Lyme disease from deer ticks will be a possibility all the way, but most intense Mass to mid Atlantic.

Bring warm clothes for the White Mts (NH) (e.g. a fleece, maybe 2 for the presidentials). Weather in New England above treeline can be severe, with the greatest danger being hypothermia from cold (33F) windblown rain in the Presidentials.

The weather is unpredictable that far in advance. Your 20F quilt will be fine. In New England you could get anything from weeks of blue sky to constant rain. Thunderstorms can dump heavy rain in a short period. Vermont got 7" of rain, small tornados and baseball sized hail from the storms that hit OK and MO, BUT this is very very unusual. Check the weather forecasts when you can and think about sitting out severe storms for a day or two.

[Slo-go'en]

For July and August, T storms are the biggest threat. These can soak you to the bone in seconds, but generally blow by quickly.

In September and October, you can start getting prolong periods of light rain, lasting a day or two or up to a week at a time. If your really unlucky, the reminanets of a hurrican will pass through with some really heavy rain for 24 hours or so.

Staying dry all the time isn't much of an option. A decent rain jacket (more for warmth then to keep dry, as you will sweat inside it), quick dry plastic clothes, synthetic fill sleeping bag and you should be good to go. When you do have a nice sunny day, air out and dry you sleeping bag during a lunch break, along with anything else which might be damp.