Hiking in the Rain
My long-awaited section hike on the Appalachian Trail is almost here. I have less than a month to go. If you have read my other hiking-related blogs you know that I am a fanatical planner. I have literally been planning this 9 (or 10) day hike for more than a year. I enjoy the planning. I enjoy the learning. I enjoy thinking through various scenarios and working out a plan in my head. I enjoy the details. I especially enjoy talking about the hike with anyone who asks!
One of the final tasks in preparation for my section hike was hiking in the rain. I can now check that off my list. I had a chance to hike 3.5 miles in the rain today at a local mountain bike/running trail.
It rained last night and continued raining this morning until about 7:30 AM. I watched the weather all morning waiting for it to rain. I could see on the weather app on my phone that a storm cell was heading in my direction. I started hiking about 12:50 PM and it started raining within the first 30 minutes. It was a slow, but steady, rain. I heard thunder in the distance, but nothing close to me. It has been raining a good amount this Spring, so the trail was lush and green.
The entire trail is 2 miles end-to-end. I stopped before the end and turned back, in order to hike the trail as an out-and-back. On the first half of the trail I tried to stay out of the mud puddles. By the time I turned around and was on the second half, my feet were soaked so I said “What the heck!” I stomped through the puddles no matter how deep, splashing around in the mud like a 5-year old after a rainstorm.
The bill of my hat kept rain off my face and my Dri-Ducks Frogg Toggs jacket kept my upper body dry. The only moisture on my shirt was from sweat. I don’t know how “breathable” this jacket is. It was humid today but not too hot. Any hotter and I would have been wet from sweat. My shoes and socks were soaked but my feet were fine. I did have to stop twice to get debris out of my right shoe. Maybe I should look into gaiters before the hike? My shorts were soaked. I did not apply Body Glide and I am lucky I did not start chaffing. If I had to hike all day in rain like that WITHOUT Body Glide, I would have been in trouble.
Pulling out my phone to shoot video and take pictures was a bit of a hassle in then rain. I shot video when the rain stopped for a couple minutes. I pulled out my phone to catch a few pictures of the trail and the obligatory hiking selfie.
It worked well keeping my phone in a ziplock bag in my front pouch. I did have to take it out of the ziplock to get a good picture. I will NOT try to do that in heavy rain.
My pack got wet but the contractor’s trash bag on the inside kept everything dry. I feel confident with going with the trash bag instead of a pack cover.
Overall, I give myself a passing grade for hiking in the rain. I feel ready for rain on the AT next month. I plan on blogging on my gear and food before the hike. I have learned so much from watching gear videos from other hikers, I am eager to submit my own.
Here is a short video from today’s rainy hike: