When it rains..
Do you just keep on walking?
If Im not at my destination yet,then yes. If Im out in an open area and its lighting out then i move even quicker!
Komu pora,temu czas
When it rains
What you do when it is raining while on a hike depends on a lot of factors. Are you in a shelter, hostel or tent. Are you presently wet or dry? Do you have to hike some miles to get somewhere, ie. post office or meet someone. What is the weather forcast.
If you are hiking and it starts to rain, most thru-hikers put on rain gear and continue to walk. If you awake and you are dry and it's raining sometimes you just want to wait it out before you pack up and start hiking.
Several times, during my thru, I would get up to rain, put on my pack cover and rain gear and get hiking. If you are a thru-hiker you have to expect to do this frequently. Having to put up with wet gear is part of the thru-hike experience you have to learn to live with.
Always remember: The rain will stop and the sun will shine again.
Grampie-N->2001
Thru Hiking - Generally you have more flexibility, fewer hard deadlines, so you can take a more casual attitude and wait out a storm in a shelter or town. Repeatedly doing this will add stress and time constraints later in your hike however.
Section Hiking - Generally you will have a hard deadline. Either you must return to work or meet a ride. Unless you have built some flexibility into your schedule, you will probably have to hike on, no matter what the weather does.
The longer your hike, the more opportunity to make up the time lost waiting out a storm. All hikers will eventually have to resign themselves to the fact that they will be hiking in storms - learn to appreciate their special beauty. Few folks experience storms first-hand, out in them. Most everyday folks hole-up indoors.
Stop, put on pack cover, keep walkin. . .
Stop, open umbrella, keep walkin'
In light rain I just put on the pack cover and move on. In heavy rain I also get out the jacket and if it's a really cold rain I add the shell pants.
“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” –Socrates
I love hiking in the rain... It puts a whole new face on the forest around you... Bug free, and generally cool... Toss on the pack cover in a light rain, add a rain shell if it gets real hard... Like Engine, the pants only come on if it gets cold and real wet..
stop, put on pack cover, & rain suit if temps not warm, & keep walkin...
I actually enjoy a walk in the rain from time to time,,, definitely a different hiking experience,,, makes the woods seem more alive.
Good point. . .Originally Posted by Big Dawg
I don't know.
I don't know you guys who are saying they just keep walking but from my experiences, whenever it rains on the AT, the shelters fill up, even at 9 in the morning.
I can think of a few instances when i hiked and thought i could maybe get in one for some lunch and a break from rain, but passed 3 or 4 of them that day and they were all standing room only (not any extra standing room though).
So, i munched away on my candy bars and set up that night to a big hunger.
In 95 we had 11 inches of rain in the Shenendoahs. I remember going 3 days and seeing 2 other hikers out in it besides myself.
But at the gathering that year, almost everyone i talked to said they walked through it.
Maybe things have changed since my last thru but most headed for the shelters from what i experienced.
Don't let your fears stand in the way of your dreams
I love the rain. I throw on my pack cover, and I keep walking. If it is coming down hard I will throw my poncho on as well, covering me and my pack, and if it is cold and rainy, I throw on my nylon raincoat, poncho, and pack cover, but I keep walking. If I wake up in the morning and it is raining, I throw on my gear and start walking lol. The only time I stop is if the trail seems too dangerous to walk, when the trail is a 2 mile river dropping 1500 feet, and has drop offs around every corner, then I tend to stop lol.
If happens overnight into the morning I just stay in the hammock until it lets up if I'm on the trail and no lighting just keep on keeping on, lighting i'm heading to the lowest point asap
Would you be offended if I told you to
TAKE A HIKE!
CowHead
"If at first you don't succeed......Skydiving is not for you" Zen Isms
I once was lost, then I hike the trail
If you hike long enough you eventually experience rain. If you stopped or hid everytime it rained on the AT than a thru-hike would certainly take much longer. It would have you undercover for long durations - like days - on the AT. Deal with it.
Love to feel the summer rain on my face. It's not poison you know. Let's you know you are alive.
Walking through the woods in a light- to medium-rain can be quite pleasant, as long as you're dry, not too warm or cold, and you've got someplace you can get out of the rain to eat at some point.
When your body is drenched (by sweat or water), your socks are waterlogged, you're nearing hypothermia (or heat exhaustion), there's no end in sight, and you're swearing to yourself; then it's time to think about stopping for the day.
GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014
I like walking in the rain if the temperatures are warm enough. It's not quite as much fun when it's 32-F and raining, but it can be done. I find hiking in the rain much more enjoyable if I have a hat with a large brim -- more protection and less sweat, and allows me to hear what's around me. I hate using a rain shell hood.
If the temps are in the 50s or below, it's important to be mentally prepared. Hypothermia makes me stupid (or in my case, even more stupid.) I like to rehearse in my mind every step I'll take when I stop -- drop my pack, dig out my dry clothing, strip off my wet clothing and put on the dry stuff, make a hot drink, etc. Helps a lot when my thinking gets sluggish in a cold rain.
I just keep on walking and if it gets bad I drape my poncho over my pack and keep going.
Me too. In the past when I used a rain shell hood, I felt like I was in a tunnel w/ no peripheral vision. Now that I use a large brim hat, I can enjoy my surroundings more when it's raining.
I actually enjoy a walk in the rain from time to time,,, definitely a different hiking experience,,, makes the woods seem more alive.
Glad you included "from time to time"......because rain every day for 2-3 weeks like last year in July and Aug in VT, NH and ME really drowns the novelty of it.
I like these most of the time.........
The
More often than not, an early morning rain will tapper off later in the morning so if you wait a little to get going, you can stay dry. Also quite often, the rain will tapper off or stop from about 11 am to 2 pm, giving you a break. It's kinda rare that it rains all day non stop, but of course, it can happen if a front stalls over the Appalachians.
The worst are the afternoon T-Storms which if your not quick, can drench you to the bone in a matter of seconds and if your not moving, chill you down real quick, even if it was just real hot out. I try to get under cover and wait out T-Storms if at all possible. Huddled under a ground cloth or tarp is good for this.
Even though we bitch about hiking in all the rain in the spring, come the dog days of summer, we discover it wasn't all that bad and start wishing for a nice cool and light rainy day again.
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