It was way too hot in the afternoon. But it was pleasant under the trees at our campsite.
It’s fun to hang out with my hiker pals. They’re smart, strong and always interesting.
The forecast for the evening was light rain, maybe.
Suddenly, that changed to severe thunderstorms. I decided to climb into my hammock a little earlier than planned. I got comfortable, listened to the building wind and wondered how much rain we’d get.
Unfortunately I had set my tarp a little too high (I hadn’t thought I would need it at all). At first, it was nice to watch the rain. But then it started pouring into my hammock.
Meanwhile, my hiker pal Bunny’s tent soon became surrounded by a moat. She piled her possessions on her sleeping pad to keep them dry-ish.
Scout did slightly better: her tent wasn’t as directly in the line of water.
I knew I needed to rehang my tarp. I also knew I couldn’t do that in the middle of the storm.
So I grabbed some stuff (raincoat, headlamp, a small spare tarp), slid into my flooded hiking boots and headed for the restrooms. At least it was dry in there.
Fortunately, it was still warm out, so getting drenched wasn’t dangerous. Just annoying.
Eventually the rain died down and I returned to the campsite. Once I’d rehung my tarp and dried out my hammock, I was able to climb back in.
Mother Nature provided us with one last massive flash of lightning and blast of thunder. Scared the hell out of all three of us.
The next morning, the woods were gorgeous once again. As we had breakfast and the all-important coffee, it sounded like it was still raining. But that was just the water still dripping out of the trees. They’d gotten as drenched as we did.
Bunny and Scout camped a second night. I had other obligations and headed home. Razor, who couldn’t camp the first night, came in for the second.
They told me they had a lovely, dry night.
Lessons learned
- Always hang the tarp properly. Even when it surely seems you won’t need it.
- What could I have done if there wasn’t a dry building nearby? My hiker pals suggested getting under the picnic table. Would’ve been muddy and buggy down there. But I might have been able to stay drier.
Today, I’m cleaning all my gear.
And thinking about the next camping trip.