Hike/jogging in the rain

Discussion in 'Adventure, Hiking, Backpacking and Travel' started by Reno Lewis, May 10, 2018.

  1. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    It's always a good idea to carry a rain jacket during the summer, especially in the Pacific North West...

    When I headed out, it was slightly overcast, 28 degrees C, a slight breeze. It was my primary intention to go find a partially rotten, but still solid Maple branch to experiment with friction fire with, but, it turned into more than that.

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    Came upon a little stream near the side of the trail. The water level is low due to no rain for the past week.

    It may be hard to see, but down at the very bottom center, in the mud, below the rocks, there's a print.

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    Appears to be a small dog, taking a drink from the stream, when the water levels were a bit higher. Perhaps a couple of days old.

    Unfortunately, about three days previous, a 9 month old female pit bull puppy went missing from about 4 kilometers from where I was here. There was no other sign in the area to indicate someone was walking a dog, and there are three cougars in this area... :(



    Around this time, a light rain began to fall. Mostly caught by the thick canopy above.

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    Earlier in the day, I switched my normal haversack kit over to my HPG Tarahumara that was given to me as a gift by @Dagwood, so I could carry a rain jacket. Thanks again Dag!

    I decided to take a short video to show how it rides with a full kit.



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    At this point I continued on with my task. After aimlessly walking around for a while, I came across a decent candidate, scooped it up and continued on along the trail.

    It was a beautiful evening, and I just couldn't help but keep walking.

    The trail system I was on is about a 4km loop, and I ended up circling around to where I was previously. However, the light drizzle that had started about 30 min earlier had turned into a constant heavy rain, and I knew I was going to get soaked if I didn't do something about it.

    So I found some heavy cover to stand under while I took the rain jacket from my pack.

    A good rain jacket like I have is bulky and heavy to carry, and nowhere near as versatile as carrying a poncho/tarp, but man, a proper jacket is infinitely better as an actual garment that still allows long distance movement without hindrance.

    Just a couple pics of my loaded pack before removing my jacket.

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    Some gear shots.

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    Also decided to show how the Tara rides half empty with a jacket on.




    Some Vanilla Leaf.

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    A short video of the Vanilla Leaf being bounced around by the rain.

     
  2. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    At this point, I decided to head back. It took me another 15 minutes or so to get to the trail head from here.

    As I got nearer the trail head, I took stock. The temp had stayed mostly the same, so I was sweating under my jacket and rather damp, and my gear was soaked from the rain.

    I was tired, wet, sore, the sun was going down, and in all honesty, I absolutely loved it. I didn't want to go home yet, I just wanted to keep going.

    So I did.

    I walked right past home, and just kept on walking up the hill.

    Found a little area that had been recently cleared for a park, they used the wood chips to line a small pathway.

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    This road is about 1.5km long, and a slight decline. I'm not a runner by any stretch of the imagination, but I have been wanting to try interval jogging.

    I was wearing hiking boots, a pack, carrying a 7' hiking stick, but what the hell, why not!

    So I jogged over half of it.

    Absolutely loved it. I'm actually excited to be able to go back out and do some more.

    Forgive the blurry pics, I was taking them on the move.

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    At the end of the above road, I started this one, which is about 0.5km.

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    At which point I decided to drop elevation by about 50 meters and go down to the beach.


    It's when I stopped and had a rest here that I wished I had water and a snack. They're the first things that became a permanent addition to my light weight kit when I got home, lol.

    The rain had stopped, so I took my jacket off and aired out for a bit.

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    I did my best to keep pace while climbing back up, about 1 meter up for every 2 meters forward, for about 50 meters. Took some effort not to slow down or stop for a rest. But I did it.

    Decided to go the long way back, and came across a couple of deer in an empty lot, mouths full of grass.

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    It was another 1.5km back home, up a rather steep hill.

    Overall, with all the wandering I did, I covered about 10km, most of which was up and down hills.

    To say the least, I was absolutely exhausted.

    But, I had a goal when I went out earlier in the day...

    Friction fire.

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    Unfortunately, I drilled halfway through the 3/4" thick board and couldn't get a coal despite multiple attempts.

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    At this point, my right arm was seizing up, (takes a lot of effort to spin a 1" diameter spindle) so I decided to call it. However, I wanted fire, so I used my Winkler to knock out a quick Maple feather stick and lit it with a ferro rod.

    EDIT: Something I forgot to mention here, is that the lighting in the below photo is was provided solely by my Thrunite Ti3, which is my EDC light. I have it on a 550 cord neck lanyard, and the medium setting while hanging around your neck provides more than enough light to do fire prep by.

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    Now, I have no pictures of it, but I did light the powder with my ferro rod, and got a coal. However, despite multiple efforts, the coals kept snuffing themselves out.

    I couldn't keep the powder burning, which tells me there was likely too much moisture in the spindle. Guess I'll just have to go find a better one;)


    All in all, I finally got inside at the end of the day barely able to move, smelling like wood smoke, with soaking wet gear, and a giant smile on my face.

    It was a good day.


    And now that I'm done putting this together from the other day, I'm going out to do it all again right now! :)
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2019
  3. Dagwood

    Dagwood Member

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    Just remember me when you wanna sell one of them there ;)lers
     
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  4. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    Haha, you got it man.
     
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  5. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    good stuff Brother! nothing like aches and pains from the woods. I go thru a jar of Tiger Balm white (strong) every two weeks.
     
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  6. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    Quick update. Just got back from today's jaunt of about 5km.

    Found a stone cave with game sign. Likely a bear den. Pics to follow.

    Also walked right up on a deer, about 10ft from it.
     
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  7. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    Pics of the aforementioned cave/den can be found HERE.
     
  8. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Nice!!! Keep it up sir!
     
  9. Charlie Delta

    Charlie Delta Member

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    Good stuff man.
     

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