[pct-l] What to do when bad weather looms?

Tue Jan 26 12:59:03 CST 2010

Common sense tells you to get out of it. You don't want to add hypothermia, 
dehydration, or exhaustion to your worries.

If it is a rain shower, you can put on your rain gear that will keep your 
skin dry (you'll have no problem with staying warm) and keep on hiking. If 
there is a chance of lightning, don't wait out the storm under the big tree 
in the middle of the meadow, get to low ground in the forest and pitch to 
stay dry and warm. You don't know how big or how long will be the storm. If 
you have a place to dry out at the end of your day, other than your tent 
(which may be pitched in the rain and be wet from the start), like a ski 
area, restaurant, motel room, friend's cabin, etc., then keep going. There's 
not much worse than pitching wet, except packing up wet!

If it is snow, start thinking shelter soon. If it is real cold and you are 
up high and exposed and are pretty sure that this storm is going to be just 
a freak summer snow that may drop 4 to 6 inches, keep on hiking until you 
end you day. As long as the fresh snow doesn't accumulate above mid-shin, 
where you're going to have to take tall steps to slog through it, exhausting 
yourself, dealing with it may only last the next sunny day. If you are 
either early or late season, implying that the storm may last a while rather 
than be a brief one, you might want to "Hunker Down" sooner so you pitch dry 
and ride it out dry. If you are already on several feet of snow and are 
about to experience more, find a safe place to pitch out of avalanche paths 
(learn where avalanches are prone to slide) and wait it out, perhaps, 
depending on the amount of new snow that falls, for a day or two after the 
sun comes out (allows the new snow to settle into the old, making it all 
more stable).

Previous experience in bad weather will tell you what sort of reaction you 
will take. During your thru hike preparation phase, get out in the bad 
weather and train yourself. Pitch in your back yard during the next rain 
storm, go up to Saddle Junction in the snow and look around, maybe pitch in 
the meadow and explore the next day. Take a class in avalanche awareness and 
avoidance. Expose yourself to the conditions you expect to have when out on 
your thru hike before you start, so you'll be ready for it, more confident, 
and safe.

Mtnned
Mountain Education
South Lake Tahoe, Ca
www.mountaineducation.org

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Billings" <dbillings803 at yahoo.com>
To: <Pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:47 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] What to do when bad weather looms?

> Seems logical to me. But I'm a novice hiker. There might be circumstances 
> where hunkering down would be
> less safe than other choices.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Jeffrey Olson <jolson at olc.edu>
> Cc: Pct-l at backcountry.net
> Sent: Mon, January 25, 2010 4:13:44 PM
> Subject: [pct-l] What to do when bad weather looms?
>
> All this talk about making good choices has me think of what I've
> learned to do after my last bad choice to continue walking in wind/rain.
>
> GO TO BED!!!  STAY THERE UNTIL  THE STORM PASSES
>
> Now that's a good choice, one that any hiker out for more than a month
> can appreciate.  And it's a matter of looking forward to bad weather so
> that you can hunker down for a while.  "Oh boy, a storm is coming.  It's
> 11AM and I've got 12 miles in, but it's starting to rain and the wind is
> blowing 30 mph + and I get to HUNKER DOWN!!!"
>
> Part of the trip's mindset might just include such an attitude!
>
> Jeffrey Olson
> Martin, SD
>
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