Offroad and on the Trails

Frog Lake Post-Trip Analysis, Part I: Rain!

Continuing my series of observations and lessons learned, I have more post-trip notes this time because of the surprise weather we enjoyed. So I’m splitting this trip debrief into three parts. This post deals with the weather-related issues.

As our backpacking trip approached, the forecast called for partly cloudy skies, a Saturday afternoon high of 72°F, with overnight lows in the upper 40s.

In reality we had rain showers for much of the afternoon and evening. The overnight low was around 43°F. Because things were colder than expected, we were at times colder than expected as well. Fortunately, it was not so cold that it was a big problem. When picking gear and clothing, it’s good to have some buffer built in.

I’d checked the forecast all week and the night before. I think it must have changed by Saturday morning, but when I went to check the weather app on my iPhone, the Uverse 2Wire box’s wifi was screwed up – again. I didn’t want to take the time to start up my computer so I could power cycle the wifi, and as a result I didn’t get a fresh weather forecast for the day. It was one of those cases where I just happened to miss a single key weather update, and it shows how easily that can happen and how it can impact your trip. Even in California!

Our lack of rain gear would have made the hike back on Sunday uncomfortable had it been cold & raining then. Fortunately it was mostly sunny. The rain had tapered off sometime after midnight, and the hike back ended up being very nice. Bullet successfully dodged.

Another rain “oops” was leaving all of the water bottles, pots and dishes outside the tent. When the first sprinkles passed through, it just got those things wet, which wasn’t a problem. But as the showers picked up later, the heavier drops on the wet ground threw little mud spatters over everything. Not a big deal, but I did have to rinse it all off.

Also, a kitchen ground cloth of some kind would have been nice so I didn’t have to set bowls, cups, spoons, etc. down on the wet ground. I’ve purchased some cheap 2mil plastic and will cut out a small sheet and give that a try next time.

My compact Bic lighter was left out in the rain as well – oops again – so I had to get it dry before it would function. That’s always a pain, especially with cold fingers. And I’d left my ultralight striker firestarter kit at home like a numbskull, so I was relying on that lighter to ignite the camp stove. After several frustrating minutes I got the lighter working again. Problem solved, whew! The worst case scenario would have meant cold food, which would have been a bummer, but we weren’t going to starve or anything.

I was pleased to have the DWR coating on my Patagonia down sweater, which again performed very well. It also makes a fine pillow in a stuffsack. As usual, I wore my  long-sleeve Capilene 1 shirt underneath it. Had it been much colder (40°F or below) I would have preferred a warmer jacket and/or baselayer.

When the jacket was covered with beads of rain, we used my MSR pack towel to absorb all that water so it didn’t wind up all over the tent.

Speaking of the tent, the ol’ Eureka Dome 2 is about 19 years old now(!) and after this trip it really needs a good wash. As a precaution, I will re-treat the DWR as well. I really appreciated the spaciousness of this tent with all two adults and an energetic 8-year old cooped-up in it for much of Saturday afternoon and evening. Our packs were all inside and stayed dry as well.

In summary… With a little luck, the gear we had did just fine despite the unexpected  weather. There’s room for a improvement, as usual. Most importantly, the family endured the surprise storm in high spirits and that’s what I was most proud of.

June 2nd, 2011 at 9:08 am


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