Thursday, April 28, 2016

Walking in the Rain

I left Marion Virginia on the morning of April 21, but not as early as I had hoped. The city's shuttle bus forgot to pick me up at the motel, even though I had called to confirm. I had to wait two more hours until the next run up to the Mount Rogers Visitors Center and didn't get on the trail until after 11:00 AM. The bus was only 50 cents, so I really couldn't complain. I ended up hiking into the evening to make up time, camping near a stream.

It rained heavily part of the night and my tent was soaked the next morning (outside only thankfully). I partially dried it, packed it away, and hit the trail. Within an hour it began raining heavily again, with the rain lasting much of the day. The temperature was in the low 50's.

When doing research on hiking the trail I realized that there was no way to stay completely dry while hiking in the rain. So-called waterproof footwear and waterproof/breathable clothing would eventually fail, either through direct water entry or through moisture from your own body being trapped inside. You really only have two choices: Hunker down in a tent or shelter, or accept being wet. I decided before hiking the trail that I would do the latter. As long as you keep hypothermia at bay, it's not that bad.

My hiking shoes and socks were completely soaked most of the day, as were my pants. I got rid of my rain pants a few days earlier, sending them home when the weather got a little warmer. I didn't miss them. My core stayed warm enough and relatively dry. When the rain ended my nylon pants were dry within the hour and my shoes within about two hours.

There were some people hunkered down in tents and shelters that day, but equally as many walking in the rain.  As one guy who passed me said smilingly, "You can't stop it, so you might as well just embrace it." Good attitude.

I had a rain cover for my pack, but water still managed to get through. As long as you keep things that have to stay dry in dry bags or zip locks it's not a big deal.

I ended up walking 102 miles from Thursday the 21st to the morning of Monday the 25th. I'm writing this in Pearisburg, VA, where I spent Monday night. Late Sunday afternoon as I was about 10 miles from Pearisburg, a female grouse befriended me. I really don't know how else to describe it. She approached me as I was hiking along and then proceeded to follow me for several hundred yards. I stopped for 20 minutes and watched in fascination as she slowly walked in circles around me the entire time, always staying between 6 and 15 feet from me, nibbling on shrubs and chirping quietly.

Temporary trail buddy.
I left when the sun started going down and she stopped following me. I've come across game birds a number of times, but they usually flee in fear when they detect you. I'm not sure what was up with this one.

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