Inclement weather walking
My oldest daughter was home from college for a few days and desperate to take a hike. She lives in a very vibrant city but, as with many cities, it’s a little lacking in nature. The only issue was the weather. The sky was a little gray and they were announcing the possibility of rain. But how accurate are those reports anyway? Besides, I was willing to risk a light rain to enjoy a walk and some one on one time with her.
We put on our rain coats in case of drizzle and headed out to our favorite spot. At some point we agreed to turn back if the weather got too bad. It is, however, entirely possible that conversation happened in my head.
When we arrived at the parking area there were 5 cars so that felt promising. We couldn’t all be wrong about the weather could we? They say hindsight is 20/20. I bet all of those people and their cars were gone 5 minutes after we started up the mountain.
There are four things to know about this particular hiking spot.
1)Some really awesome people worked their collective butts off to create a wonderfully challenging and, yet, really accessible trail.
2)It usually takes about 35 minutes to get to the top of this mountain. I’ve seen a few runners who probably finish in about 15 minutes. Honestly, anybody with better cardio than me can get there faster but I don’t really care how long it takes me?
3)The view from the top is absolutely breathtaking. They even have four benches set up so that you can really take it in. It makes all of the hard breathing worth it.
4)The trail is a one-way loop and there is no alternative way to get up or down. Also, the path has been worn down in such a way that going down the up way would be harder then just continuing.
When you discover that your raincoat isn’t waterproof…
At this point you can probably imagine what happened but just for the fun of it I will tell you anyway.
The first 10 minutes were nice. We were having a long-overdue conversation and, probably because the trees were protecting us a bit, we only felt a very light sprinkling of rain. Suddenly these outrageously strong winds started blowing and brought with them rain…oh so much rain!
Within minutes we looked, and felt, like someone had pushed us fully clothed into a swimming pool. The trees were showering us with leaves from the force of the wind and the path became a small stream taking with it all of the loose fall leaves. My boots filled with water and I suddenly realized that I had as much rain inside my jacket as on the outside.
There was a moment when we looked at each other because it had dawned on us how much more hiking we had to do in this weather and what we were in for. Unfortunately, turning back wasn’t really an option(see #4). So we continued walking and talking and getting wetter by the second until there was no more wet to get. The goal was to get to the top so all this would be worth it.
And we did. We worked our way up to the summit all the while side-stepping the ever enlarging stream that used to be a path. And…
You guessed it….no view!
Essentially there was a huge nimbus cloud right on top of the mountain draining it’s contents on the landscape…and our heads.
Then, just as we readied ourselves for a slippery hike down, the cloud started to move and for a moment we did get a small peek of the magnificent view. We could literally see the cloud moving above us. It was pretty amazing to be so high that we were practically in a cloud.
The way down was wet but interesting. My daughter caught me up on her life, school, activities and friends. It was great!
Was it worth it?
ABSOLUTELY!
Yes we were wet…really, really wet. But it was awesome to be with my daughter. I loved our talk and sharing the whole adventure with her.
It was also a great learning experience. I learned that my boots were made by someone with a wicked sense of humor. They let in tons of water and then kept it from getting out. I learned that my third grade teacher was right. Nimbus clouds do, in fact, hold an enormous amount of water. I also learned…sometimes those weather reports are accurate.
An yet…it was such a memorable hike that I felt compelled to write about it so I wouldn’t forget.
Something to think about the next time I think about putting off a walk due to rain.
