The day started out well, I was on the trail by 11:00am and the miles were flying by. I decided to hike about 19 miles that day so I could camp near a water source.
All was going to plan until at about mile12 it started to rain. Don’t get me wrong, I am from Washington and have hiked in the rain more often than not. I pulled out my raincoat and headed on up the trail. Then it began to hail. Again, this was fine; I sheltered under a tree and ate a snack. It wasn’t South Dakota, baseball-sized hail after all. After ten minutes or so, I headed on. At this point, I was on top of a ridge, walking under swaying ponderosa pines. It was quite nice until the thunder started. This is a good time to note that I have a very strong and irrational fear of thunder. Being on a ridge top didn’t help. I began to run down the mountain. Yes, I ran with a fully loaded pack (five days of food and eleven days of water), but I had to get off that ridge! I got down to a place that I felt safe, only to be pelted with snow. Yes, snow in Southern California. Who would have thought.
I made it to Little Bear Campground and the spring at about 7:00. Just about the time I found a suitable campsite, the sky opened up and began to just dump rain. Perfect. My ground tarp collected puddles on it during the 45 seconds it took me to yank my tent out of my pack and get it laid out. I finally got the tent pitched and crawled inside, pretty wet at this point. No matter, I organized my life, put on warm clothes and got dinner going (chana masala, which is my second favorite trail meal so far). The important part being that I survived the thunder and lightning, the hail, the rain, the snow, and avoided hypothermia. That is a win in my book J
All was going to plan until at about mile12 it started to rain. Don’t get me wrong, I am from Washington and have hiked in the rain more often than not. I pulled out my raincoat and headed on up the trail. Then it began to hail. Again, this was fine; I sheltered under a tree and ate a snack. It wasn’t South Dakota, baseball-sized hail after all. After ten minutes or so, I headed on. At this point, I was on top of a ridge, walking under swaying ponderosa pines. It was quite nice until the thunder started. This is a good time to note that I have a very strong and irrational fear of thunder. Being on a ridge top didn’t help. I began to run down the mountain. Yes, I ran with a fully loaded pack (five days of food and eleven days of water), but I had to get off that ridge! I got down to a place that I felt safe, only to be pelted with snow. Yes, snow in Southern California. Who would have thought.
I made it to Little Bear Campground and the spring at about 7:00. Just about the time I found a suitable campsite, the sky opened up and began to just dump rain. Perfect. My ground tarp collected puddles on it during the 45 seconds it took me to yank my tent out of my pack and get it laid out. I finally got the tent pitched and crawled inside, pretty wet at this point. No matter, I organized my life, put on warm clothes and got dinner going (chana masala, which is my second favorite trail meal so far). The important part being that I survived the thunder and lightning, the hail, the rain, the snow, and avoided hypothermia. That is a win in my book J
RSS Feed