Foul/Severe weather and Through-Hiking

A severe line of storms is passing over almost the entire AT this morning from VT through MD. I always think about the through hikers on days like this. Several were hospitalized a week or 2 ago in NJ, I think, having been hit by lightning.

I have never spent an extended period of time wet "in the trenches". Camping, backpacking or in battle. Worst case for me has been a day or 2 of wet weather and then out of the woods or able to dry out in the woods. Lightning and rain is yet another reason I prefer winter.

I'd have to imagine there are some hard won and valuable lessons learned by spending a week or 2 backpacking in ithe rain. Or is it just miserable until you can get dry again ?

One of our VFTT members that is out there hiking through right now is Hikrgrl. Last I heard, at the beginning of May, she was in Virginia and moving along without any problems.

I trust she is still doing well.

The weather sure can be a problem at times. I met a group of about five last year up in the area of the Kinsmans (I think) who mentioned they had had only one nice day in the last two weeks.

Chip said:

I'd have to imagine there are some hard won and valuable lessons learned by spending a week or 2 backpacking in ithe rain.?

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Yeah, there is. You don't ever hike if rain is in the forecast again!


http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29405

wardsgirl said:

Yeah, there is. You don't ever hike if rain is in the forecast again!


http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29405

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Well, I'd like to think I wouldn't need 18 days of rain, tornado, knee-deep mud and slippery rocks to teach me to check the forecast before heading out !

I'd be interested in hearing about techniques for extended wet weather; Hike naked ? Sham-Wow ? Get a room until it passes ? Jay H's infamous Hiking Umbrella ?

It must get pretty depressing after a few days.

AT hikers have a "chant" that they sometimes resort to "No rain No Maine" as they are sitting in a shelter contemplating another day of hiking in the rain.

Once you are soaked and aware and dealing with of issues of avoiding hypothermia, hiking in nasty weather is tolerable and sometimes fun but usually not. At some point you can only get so wet and with synthetics, there are methods of getting then less wet overnight.

Chip said:

I'd be interested in hearing about techniques for extended wet weather; Hike naked ? [...EDIT...]

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Note to self: check long-range forecast before accepting hiking invitation from Chip.

Hi Chip!

Chip said:

Or is it just miserable until you can get dry again ?

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It's just miserable until you get so wet you can't get any wetter. Then you're okay again. You have what some call the "freedom foot" and can walk without even bothering to avoid puddles or mud. You even get used to putting on wet, stinky socks the next morning. C'est la trail vie.
Seriously though, the lightning can be pretty drop-you're-trekking-poles-and-run scary.

During my AT thru-hike, I got very lucky and never had rain two days in a row. still, I agree w/Wardsgirl about never wanting to hike in rain again: It is, indeed, miserable and makes those long-distance hiker "aromas" all the more pungent. And lightening was the only thing that ever REALLY scared me on the whole Trail.

Out here in California, it's fresh *snow* that's impeding the PCT thru-hikers right now! Those who aren't quite prepared for the conditions are holing up in towns along the eastern sierra.

When I was backpacking a 120 mile section of the Maine AT, I remember getting dropped off on a hairpin turn just outside the town of Oqquossuc on a very rainy and windy morning..the shuttler, the owner of Pine Ellis Hiker Hostel in Andover, ME (shameless plug for good people) asked me, "do you want to maybe start tommorrow?"...spending the next four days backpacking the "Tough 32" in the pouring rain...it wasn't much fun, especially all the brook crossings...but after a dry out day in Stratton, the sun opened up for the Bigelows....four days was enough rain for me, I can't imagine spending weeks in it but I guess you take it as it comes when you are in it for the long haul.

I still say that if my car was not at the Canadian Border, I never would have finished the LT last summer.

One positive thing was that it was warm rain, with no chance of hypothermia. Another positive thing was that it was raining so hard that I never had to stop walking when I had to take a leak.
(Ok that was probably way TMI!)

Chip said:

I'd be interested in hearing about techniques for extended wet weather; Hike naked ? Sham-Wow ? Get a room until it passes ? Jay H's infamous Hiking Umbrella ?

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While working for the Maine Outward Bound School's junior program in the Mahoosucs one summer there was rain on every day of our first expedition and more than half of all the days in the entire course.

What worked for me was a pair of wool pants (men's everyday dress weight so very lightweight) There was a change of dry clothes in the pack (double bagged) that would go on at the end of the day around camp but in the a.m. on went the wet clothes for another day of rain. The wool never felt clammy or cold and was very comfortable when the temps were cool. When it was warmer a boxer style bathing suit was more comfortable, especially since the rain top I had was long enough to cover the suit almost completely.

I don't have any solution for keeping your toes from getting pruney however.

I remember a rainy fall backpack in the Adk when I met the famous Ranger Fish, he fingered my shirt and said "that's wool, isn't it" and when I said I had a dry one in my pack he said "you might last a long time".

So every night at the leanto (plenty of leanto spaces after several days of rain, always had one to myself) I'd put on dry clothes and hang my hiking clothes under the eaves in the wind, the rain suit would dry overnight but the hardest part of the day was putting damp wool outfit back on next morning - with today's synthetics everything would probably dry. Finally gave up after 3 days when forecast was for several more days of rain.

Lots of summer thru-hikers don't even carry raingear except for pack cover, they don't get that much wetter than from sweat and they often aren't wearing much more than a bathing suit anyway.

What surprises me most are the people who speed-hike in the rain in winter, I guess that once again they don't get much wetter but that used to be the big no-no.

You stay in town another night!

Seriously, you just deal with it, and try at least to keep the inside of your pack dry or just damp.

I'd be concerned about my feet and the chafing areas. I could "suck it up" and "deal with it", certainly, but if things started to rot, whaddaya gonna do ?

In the next town you pick up a broad spectrum anti fungal for you feet, and you keep going. One of my friends, thru-hiking this year, had to do just that. He had the trench-foot thing going.

I was able to put on a set of dry clothes, including socks, to sleep in every night. I'm sure that saved my feet, because they were able to dry completely at least once per day. Of course, putting the wet clothes and socks back on in the morning was a horrible, but necessary evil.

wardsgirl said:

I was able to put on a set of dry clothes, including socks, to sleep in every night. I'm sure that saved my feet, because they were able to dry completely at least once per day.

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Right on. That's key. I did the same. I also took shoe off breaks several times throughout the day, wet or dry.

I've spent the last 3 summers working in the woods. One thing that was really hammered home to me during my time in the backcountry is that your clothes will always eventually dry out, and you never need more than 2 changes- a pair to wear during the day which can get wet, and a pair that always stays dry for you to wear at night. In the morning, you just change right back into your wet clothes again. If it's raining again, you're going to get wet anyways, if its nice out, then your clothes will dry as you wear them.

I'm pretty sure this is what through hikers on the AT do, if they even do carry as many as 2 sets of clothes.