Day 26: rain

Miles: 12
Water: 2l
Awesome bear bag hangs: 1

Today was the first day we hit some really unpleasant rain. The rain before was on mostly warm days, or we dodged the big downpours in shelters. But today the temperature was in the 50's and the rain was heavy and steady for three hours.

The real issue with hiking in the rain isn't the getting wet, it's the effect on your pace. Stones become slick and treacherous, ground turns to slippery mud. All your attention shifts to watching your feet and making well placed steps. Everything gets worse with glasses, rain spattered and foggy from the humidity, they require constant cleaning.

So hiking in the rain mean you see basically nothing. It is the cliche of one foot in front of another hiking.

We did crest out of the woods into a bald today, with flowers blooming all around us, and grey sky as far as the eye could see. That was cool. Oh and giant turkey after the rain.

Today did at least vindicate some gear choices I've been wondering about. My bulky but light raincoat kept me dryish while xl got soaked. Then I was able to wear my synthetic fleece in the aftermath of the storm. While XL's fancy warm warm down coat that I covet so  much had to go back into his pack, cause down sucks when wet.