Favorite 'Rainy Day' Hikes?

With another soggy forecast for the weekend I was wondering what folks favorite ''hikes in the rain' were.

Sometimes you still have to just get out there no matter the weather to clear the head and the soul.

My favorite rainy-day hike is Owl's Head. I think this is the best bad-weather hike of them all.

Next in line are (no particular order) Cabot, Hale, Waumbek, Tecumseh, and possibly a couple other of the sheltered hikes.

With the proper gear hiking in the rain is very enjoyable.

Oh, I have the proper gear, two very energetic dogs who want to go hiking no matter the weather!

I think there was a similar thread not long ago. I'm too lazy to search for it. If I have a PO for the weekend and the weather looks crappy and still want to go, I willl avoid peaks since I'm not a peakbagger per se and look for ponds, waterfalls, interesting low land features.

Shoal Pond, Flat Mountain Pond, Thoreau Falls, etc. A ten-mile hike along a flat railroad bed in the rain is actually quite nice.

chinooktrail said:

With another soggy forecast for the weekend I was wondering what folks favorite ''hikes in the rain' were.

Sometimes you still have to just get out there no matter the weather to clear the head and the soul.

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pretty much any hike i did this summer

i think i hiked twice this summer when it didnt rain.

dug said:

... look for ponds, waterfalls, interesting low land features. Shoal Pond, Flat Mountain Pond, Thoreau Falls, etc. A ten-mile hike along a flat railroad bed in the rain is actually quite nice.

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I second this motion.

On the other hand, if it is not raining, just a very low ceiling/fog, I find summits inviting in a different way ... a bit spooky and the imagination of what lies beyond mysterious yet often as vivid as the real thing. I'd be interested to learn how two energetic dogs effect this ambiance.

There were six of us on Double Top in Baxter Park but the visibility was less than 10 yards so it wasn't difficult to achieve that sense of isolation and solitude.

Sometimes, if you concentrate, you can see forever under such conditions.

Did Old Spec in rain early in summer. I especially enjoyed the fire hose treatment at the top.

Great suggestions all. Thanks!

I never mind hiking in the rain, I certainly will not melt!



My poor dog and her 'borrowed' freind have been cooped up with me at work all week, and they are bored out of their fuzzy little brains, and so am I.

We will most likely get out there for something both days.

Flat Mountain Pond sounds good, wicked close to home, haven't been in a while, dogs can swim there, and we can all get the best ice cream in the world on the way home... sounds very inviting.

Thanks!

Stan said:

I second this motion.

On the other hand, if it is not raining, just a very low ceiling/fog, I find summits inviting in a different way ... a bit spooky and the imagination of what lies beyond mysterious yet often as vivid as the real thing. I'd be interested to learn how two energetic dogs effect this ambiance.

There were six of us on Double Top in Baxter Park but the visibility was less than 10 yards so it wasn't difficult to achieve that sense of isolation and solitude.

Sometimes, if you concentrate, you can see forever under such conditions.

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Our first trip to Baxter was right before the end of the season in October. Lots of thru-hiker activity. Our day to climb Katahdin, the mountain was "closed" due to the weather. It was socked in. We hung around, ate breakfast, said 'screw it' and 6 of us bolted up AT. When we got to treeline, it was pretty bad so 4 turned around and me and my buddy continued on. We couldn't see anything. We stood at the top of Katahdin with about 10' of visibility. Imagining what it looked like to the Northeast...

We started down, off the cone and onto the Tableland, and like a flick of the switch it cleared. Every cloud blew away and we were treated to absolute nirvana.

Moral: Sometimes it's worth taking the peak on because you don't know if you will get some clearance.

disclaimer: If you take my advise and die in the ensuing weather, don't sue me, please!

..................the pub

Hum, would be a nice little hike to the Corner House Pub.

Would certainly wear the two dogs out too!

Great suggestion!

BIGEarl said:

My favorite rainy-day hike is Owl's Head. I think this is the best bad-weather hike of them all.

Next in line are (no particular order) Cabot, Hale, Waumbek, Tecumseh, and possibly a couple other of the sheltered hikes.

With the proper gear hiking in the rain is very enjoyable.

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From the trip reports I've seen wouldn't Owl's Head be your favorite hike - period?

Rainy Day Hikes...

I like Zealand Trail to Ethan Pond Trail...either out to the pond and back or all the way to Crawford Notch...I really like the section along Whitewall Mountain.

Any forest with a good canopy overhead helps deflect the rain - last weekend on Aeolus was wonderful. You get wet slowly so you don't even feel it if it isn't a cold day. Mt Israel, Chocorua up the Hammond Trail, Paugus via the Beeline, lots more rainy day hikes I've done.

I like the Willey Range (Tom, Field, and Willey, out and back) in the rain, as those trails seem to shed the water reasonably well, and the Highland Center is available at the end to dry out and have a bowl of chowder. However, not sure that they allow ice-cream loving dogs inside, so you would need to stop at the Willey House site on the way south for that.

Dr. Dasypodidae said:

I like the Willey Range (Tom, Field, and Willey, out and back) in the rain, as those trails seem to shed the water reasonably well

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Well, we try, but please nobody go up there expecting dry feet. Erik dug four or five new drainages on Avalon at the beginning of this month, and there were still some definite mudpits up there. Caveat hiker

Nancy Pond trail is pretty nice in the rain...anything featuring waterfalls is always enjoyable, and the footing next to the cascades isn't bad. Unlike, say, Falling Waters, which I found quite unpleasant.

giggy said:

..................the pub

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I was thinking in the lines of the coach to the fridge to retrieve another beer.

Anything with an enclosed firetower on top

East Osceola wouldnt be a bad hike for rainy days, although there is a cliff with a real nice view. Tecumseh would be good but there is somewhat of a view on top.

Waumbek. The rainier the better. Also Hale. Do them both when its raining in October with temps in the mid to high 40's. The Spanish moss gives it a great effect.