I have done a alot of hiking over the years but have never been faced with the condidtions I was faced with this past week. I was hiking the At through GSMNP and the plan for Wednesday was to hike form Derick Knob to Molly's Ridge, (SB). For those that know this section of the Park, it is considered to be the hardest 6.5 mile piece of the 72 miles in the Park. The wind blew all day on Tuesday and the rain started around 3am Wed. morning. The wind on Thunder Head would just about blow you over and by the time I made it to Spence Field shelter I was soaked to the bone. My only option was to get dry clothes on and get in my bag to warm up. My hiking partner did not make it in untill after 2:00 and with 5.5 miles left to do we had to spend the night there ahnd hike down to Cades Cove because there was no way my partner could do the 16 miles left and finish up by 3:00 on Thursday. To be truthfull, I am not sure I could have finished it up either.
Here's my question. With faced with rainy, windy conditions, is it possible to stay dry and if so how?