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And there was much rain
Yes, we are back from our weekend in the mountains a bit early. The desire for a soft bed and easy access to food overwhelmed our desire to sit in a damp tent watching the rain fall.
We left on Thursday night headed for Waterville Campground on the western side of the White Mountains. About an hour away from our destination we ran into torrential rain. We were hoping it was just a passing shower. It wasn't. We arrived at the campsite in complete darkness and steady rain. We managed to get the tarp up (it was ugly but effective) and pitched the tent under it. After struggling with that all we did is crawl into the tent and fall asleep.
We awoke to sunshine, the sound of birds, and high humidity. Once things dried out a bit we moved the tarp so that we could stand under it and have part of the picnic table covered. We had a large late breakfast and enjoyed the sunshine and tea. As I was doing dishes the cutest little chipmunk came up and stood between my feet. He seemed to think that I was a tree because he hid behind my foot when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
derien came into sight.
After he ran off we decided to take a little walk with our boots. We walked the bike trail along the brook for about a mile then came back. The boots worked well. There is still some breaking in to do, but overall for first real walk in a pair they were amazingly comfortable. The walking poles that I was trying out were a challenge to get used to. I'd never used walking poles before so it took a while to get a feel for them.
Just as we got back it we got Rain Light rev. 1. We talked about rearranging the tarp because our configuration had a design flaw which could cause problems in the event of a heavy rain. But instead we sat around reading and wasted some more time, perhaps tea was involved. Then just as I was considering making changes to the tarp design which had been discussed during the wasting of time we were blessed with Rain Professional Full Retail Version. This was real rain, the kind where ducks start carrying umbrellas and frogs start talking about relocating to Arizona. After about an hour of improvising different ways to keep the water flowing away from the tent the rain calmed down a bit. After another hour the discussed revisions in the tarp were completed. We sat down to supper and a bit of tequila to fortify our dampened souls.
Saturday the dawn brought beautiful sunshine once again. We got up, had a light breakfast, and decided to head out for a hike. We started up Mt. Tecumseh trail a little after 9am to try out the boots and walking poles in earnest. After some initial adjustments things worked well. We debated turning back at several points but continued on since the weather was favorable (if a bit hot and humid) and no real problems had come up. We made it to the top and back, almost out, before the rain began at 3pm. When we made the last made dash to the car it was pouring. Back to the campsite and underneath the tarp. More tea and watching the rain fall.
Once the rain took a breather we threw all the soggy things into the car and started home. Now it will take about a week to get things cleaned up and dried out. Which, by coincidence, is the exact amount of time we have before our week of vacation.
Summary: Surprise - we did a real hike! The new Limmer boots worked well. Using hiking poles shortened my stride which makes it slower going but saves an awful lot of knee pain. The White Mountains shouldn't feel like a rain forest.
We left on Thursday night headed for Waterville Campground on the western side of the White Mountains. About an hour away from our destination we ran into torrential rain. We were hoping it was just a passing shower. It wasn't. We arrived at the campsite in complete darkness and steady rain. We managed to get the tarp up (it was ugly but effective) and pitched the tent under it. After struggling with that all we did is crawl into the tent and fall asleep.
We awoke to sunshine, the sound of birds, and high humidity. Once things dried out a bit we moved the tarp so that we could stand under it and have part of the picnic table covered. We had a large late breakfast and enjoyed the sunshine and tea. As I was doing dishes the cutest little chipmunk came up and stood between my feet. He seemed to think that I was a tree because he hid behind my foot when
derien came into sight. After he ran off we decided to take a little walk with our boots. We walked the bike trail along the brook for about a mile then came back. The boots worked well. There is still some breaking in to do, but overall for first real walk in a pair they were amazingly comfortable. The walking poles that I was trying out were a challenge to get used to. I'd never used walking poles before so it took a while to get a feel for them.
Just as we got back it we got Rain Light rev. 1. We talked about rearranging the tarp because our configuration had a design flaw which could cause problems in the event of a heavy rain. But instead we sat around reading and wasted some more time, perhaps tea was involved. Then just as I was considering making changes to the tarp design which had been discussed during the wasting of time we were blessed with Rain Professional Full Retail Version. This was real rain, the kind where ducks start carrying umbrellas and frogs start talking about relocating to Arizona. After about an hour of improvising different ways to keep the water flowing away from the tent the rain calmed down a bit. After another hour the discussed revisions in the tarp were completed. We sat down to supper and a bit of tequila to fortify our dampened souls.
Saturday the dawn brought beautiful sunshine once again. We got up, had a light breakfast, and decided to head out for a hike. We started up Mt. Tecumseh trail a little after 9am to try out the boots and walking poles in earnest. After some initial adjustments things worked well. We debated turning back at several points but continued on since the weather was favorable (if a bit hot and humid) and no real problems had come up. We made it to the top and back, almost out, before the rain began at 3pm. When we made the last made dash to the car it was pouring. Back to the campsite and underneath the tarp. More tea and watching the rain fall.
Once the rain took a breather we threw all the soggy things into the car and started home. Now it will take about a week to get things cleaned up and dried out. Which, by coincidence, is the exact amount of time we have before our week of vacation.
Summary: Surprise - we did a real hike! The new Limmer boots worked well. Using hiking poles shortened my stride which makes it slower going but saves an awful lot of knee pain. The White Mountains shouldn't feel like a rain forest.