Hiking in the rain?

[HikerAmiga]

Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head... (la, la, la)

Hikerfast and I just hiked the Red Dot Trail in the Blue Hills this PM in the pouring rain.

Started at 2pm under heavy rains and steadily climbed up this trail towards Great Blue Hill. Basically the trail was like a brook in with water flows and this rocky trail was slippery so whenever possible, I hiked off trail. Slipped once and fell though.

At the top, tower area, not a soul in sight and we took shelter for a bit to check how gear was holding up. Did I mention we used umbrellas? Yep, these helped keep us drier!

All in all, we hiked for about 1.5 hours roundtrip and must say that it felt really comfy to me despite the downpours. My hands weren't cold at all and my feet stayed dry, thanks to the waterproofing of my Montrails light weight 3 season boots!

The red pine needles were abundant everywhere and these woods looked quite lovely indeed!

So YES, I do hike in the rain!

 

[cushetunk]

I hike for fun. Some days, hiking many miles in a windblown downpour can be fun. Other days, just imagining it is decidedly not fun.

I find this to be a very useful rule. It avoids burdening me with a quasi-moral commandment that I hike in all weather.

 

[Danielle]

Rain

Snowman and I have a saying... if we've planned a hiking trip, or are headed out to the trails, it's going to rain! Of course, to be perfectly honest, I'd rather hike on a beautiful sunny day than in the rain, but since we seem destined to get rained on, what can you do? We have our rain gear and we just go for it!

Last year on the AT, being out there for 4 months, we had our share of weather. We figured if we stopped and stayed in town every time it rained, we would never get to Maine (well, we didn't get to ME but that's another story). We might postpone leaving, or change our destination for the day, but typically we would head out, even in snow, rain, etc. Perhaps the rainy days weren't the most pleasant and we would complain about being wet, but often despite the weather we would see some beautiful things--like the day I saw 51 orange salamanders, or crossing the wetland area in NJ on a long boardwalk in what turned out to be a hurricane-induced rain event, enjoying the cat tails and redwing blackbirds. You just never know

 

[sapblatt]

Rain might influence WHERE I hike but not IF I hike. Gonna be out there this weekend . . . it is just water, nothing big, bad and scary about it.

sli74

I very agree with Seema's statement...change the route but still go.
I will add that I hate starting in a downpour...after 5 minutes on the trail I do not care, but to be gearing up in the lot in a downpour is tough!

 

[Jeff-B]

I hike nearly every day....rain or shine.

Got Goretex?

My "Rain gear" for various conditions:

Marmot 3L XCR Goretex Alpinist Shell
Cabela's Paclite shell
Mt Hardware Tempest Jacket, Conduit membrane
Cabela's Paclite pants
Mammut 3XDRY light pants
Mammut Champ pants, Dryskin Extreme, 3XDRY
Mammut New Age jacket Dryskin Extreme, 3XDRY
OR 3XDRY cap
LaSportiva XCR Venture light weight boots

what else.....?
Lots of little stuff like gloves, special socks, Goretex socks....

And for all this...you might wonder if I actually stay dry......
HELL YES
even in 50+ driving winds and rain.....and I love it!

Jeff

 

[percious]

I will add to my "yes" response that only if I am not hauling my son around. I won't take him on a long weekend if I know it is going to rain the whole time.

-percious

 

[WhiteMTHike]

I answered 50-50. I agree with what another poster that said it's only water and it won't hurt. The only problem I have is fog and a low cloud cover that might ruin a great view while heading up the summit. Also with the excessive rains we are currently having I'd be a little concerned about footing on the trails. As for rain itself it's not a big deal.

 

[lumberzac]

Another weenie here. I cancel a Dix Range traverse dayhike for Saturday due to the rain this past weekend. The idea of having to cross both forks of the Boquet multiple times and climbing a wet Great Slide on E. Dix sound a bit too dangerous for me. Plus I’m guessing the ridge was windy as hell especially between Macomb to Dix summit. I ended up going fishing on my cousin’s bass boat instead.

 

[sleeping bear]

I'll do it, but it's not my favorite. Like this weekend, I was psyched to go, had my pack all ready, and was willing to go for it. Other days, maybe not. Especially camping, wet tent, wet everything, not fun in the general sense of the word. Challenging though, makes you work harder. If you can stick through it, I think it makes the nice days that much nicer.

And sure, you won't melt, but you might get hypothermia, which might be worse. The stuff we had this weekend, in my opinion, is way harder to deal with than just plain cold, even really cold cold.

 

[stu]

Count me in as a.....Maybe. I don't mind hiking in a shower or drizzle especialy in warm weather (in fact I actually enjoy it), but not in an an all-day downpour event. Not fun IMHO! I I also will not hike in the winter if rain in the forecast. That said, I firmly believe that the absolute best time to be in the mountains is during that special time when a storm is beginning to break up. Sometimes it pays to brave the elements so that you can be in the right place at the right time. Stu

 

[KayakDan]

Since the backpacking season for us doesn't start till late Oct,it would be a cool rainy day. Mrs KD doesn't like rain very much,so we have bailed on a couple of wet spring or fall trips. Once the snow flies,it's a whole different story.
We have done a few memorable trips in the rain. We were on the Cedar Brook trail (early fall?) and it was raining so hard the water coming down the trail was ankle deep in places.
We did a kayak trip on Squam,over MD weekend a few years ago. 45o and raining so hard the visibility was about a hundred feet at times,but we kept paddling....are we having fun yet?

 

[MadRiver]

We had reservations at Greenleaf for Saturday night and watched the weather channel with anticipation and some degree of anxiety Friday night and Saturday morning. We ultimately decided to make the hike and took all precautions with respect to waterproofing our gear. As it turns out, the rain was minimal and didn’t cause us any problems. The wind, however, was gusting around 70 knots and did give us pause along the higher section of the trail. In retrospect, we were glad we decided to make the hike, for we met some nice people and had a good time in the hut.

 

[jmegillon149]

all depends, this past weekend with record rain falls, called my trip off. If I am going solo, and its bad, I usually won't bother to go, if its minor rain, might as well go, If I am hiking with others on a pre-arranged trip, will usually get out there.

I will say that I often don't make it to the summit on these really rainy days, total non-shelter above treeline, wet ledges, no view, doesn't lead to much of a summit experience.

 

[timmus]

I usually set up my hiking dates in advance, so when that day arrive, rain or shine I go anyway. To me, hiking means get out of the house at 5am and back at 11pm, so I don't see what else I could do so I can escape for so long.

Anyway, hiking is what I like the best, under any kind of weather. Of course, I'm not gonna do Marcy-Gray-Skylight if it's pouring rain, no. That I keep for the super sunny Memorial Day week-end...

Am I the only one who prefers pouring rain to people ?

 

[dr_wu002]

IAnyway, hiking is what I like the best, under any kind of weather. Of course, I'm not gonna do Marcy-Gray-Skylight if it's pouring rain, no. That I keep for the super sunny Memorial Day week-end...

I was on Marcy on a pouring rain / freezing rain Memorial Day Weekend. Jess and I were the only people on the mountain. It was quite windy and I was loving it... Unfortunately, Jess isn't a cold weather person quite like I am and doesn't necessarily enjoy getting soaked in 35F temps. So we headed out after about 15 minutes. However, we got to enjoy the full brunt of the wind and rain on the way down to 4 Corners.

I love going to the Presis and places like that on lousy days. I'll be back for the nice days. I save nice days also for places like Waumbek -- which I'm not likely to revisit often and would like to get some of the good views (Waumbek has plenty of views).

I don't always like getting out in the rain. But sometimes it's a blast.

-Dr. Wu

 

[cbcbd]

We did a kayak trip on Squam,over MD weekend a few years ago. 45o and raining so hard the visibility was about a hundred feet at times,but we kept paddling....are we having fun yet?

Kayaking in the rain is the best Hey, you're already in the water...

Although it's more fun during the summer, where the water and air temps are nice and comfortable.

 

[cbcbd]

I was on Marcy on a pouring rain / freezing rain Memorial Day Weekend. Jess and I were the only people on the mountain. It was quite windy and I was loving it... Unfortunately, Jess isn't a cold weather person quite like I am and doesn't necessarily enjoy getting soaked in 35F temps. So we headed out after about 15 minutes. However, we got to enjoy the full brunt of the wind and rain on the way down to 4 Corners.

I love going to the Presis and places like that on lousy days. I'll be back for the nice days. I save nice days also for places like Waumbek -- which I'm not likely to revisit often and would like to get some of the good views (Waumbek has plenty of views).

I don't always like getting out in the rain. But sometimes it's a blast.

-Dr. Wu

It's good to be on popular peaks when the weather is crazy - it keeps the crowds out and gives you a whole other experience...

I once did a backpacking trip of the CT AT. When I arrived at the end of CT and got to the peak of Bear Mtn I was caught in a storm - heavy rain, lightning, the whole shbang. The combination of my completion of the trip with the full brunt of mother nature gave me one of the greatest feelings ever - I just wanted to take it all in and let the power of nature saturate me.
I would never substitute that storm for a sunny day with views.

 

[carole]

Do you hike in the rain?

Yes. So I can take pictures like these.

 

[jrichard]

Yes. So I can take pictures like these.

Nice flow to those photos.

My trail runners were soaked this weekend (as expected, of course). While sloshing around I took to wondering if goretex lined boots would actually work in a trail/torrent like your first photo. Or would the magic stuff eventually get saturated and leak (or perhaps the water level would get higher than the tops first)?

 

[sleeping bear]

I took to wondering if goretex lined boots would actually work in a trail/torrent like your first photo. Or would the magic stuff eventually get saturated and leak (or perhaps the water level would get higher than the tops first)?

Personally, I'm not a big fan, and have never had a pair of gore-tex boots that could stand a hike in the pouring rain. Okay, wait, they do for the first month, then it's all over. Mine always end up leaking around the bend in the ball of the foot. In the end, the gore-tex just makes the boots take longer to dry.