Outbound Hound - Travel Unleashed

The movie Bull Durham has given me some of my favorite quotes, and this one seemed to fit our recent weekend in Shenandoah National Park: “This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”

Yup, sometimes it rains and did it ever!

The OBH crew arrived Friday night to the Big Meadows campground and thankfully Katina snagged the last walk-up spot since all the reservation sites were booked. She and Cannon had time for a beautiful walk in the Big Meadow before Karma and I, with new puppy Indie, pulled into the grounds.

The next morning it was a yummy breakfast followed by the Lewis Falls hike we had done before. We laughed as we struggled – as usual – to find the obvious trailhead, but it was smooth sailing from there as Indie completed her inaugural 3+ mile hike like a big girl.

The afternoon was lovely and then the rain came …

It started just before dinner and luckily I had packed a giant (seriously, GIANT) umbrella meant to create shade at the beach but also stave off the light rain shower. Well it was a good thing because all five of us huddled under it and made dinner during a brief “intermission.”

We finally gave up and went to our tents early as we were sitting in the rain, in the dark and Cannon had long since retired. It poured all night. Pounding, glad-I-have-a-good-tent kind of rain. And in the morning, when it was still raining at 8 a.m., we surrendered and packed up, shoving our tents in garbage bags. So much for a morning hike in the Big Meadow!

So it got me thinking about rain gear. Sooner or later it happens to everyone, so what do you pack for these moments?

For me, I was happy to be loading up wearing rain pants and my rain jacket with a hood but I was bummed that a baseball hat and/or rain hat was at home. It didn’t bother me that my feet were wet (only because it was already 80 degrees), but rain boots would be nice in cooler weather. I was grateful for large (yard sized) garbage bags, several towels and the fact that I have a seat/cargo cover for wet dogs. The giant umbrella was a bonus because otherwise we would have been forced to retire to our separate tent hours earlier. We are fair weather hikers but I will probably toss a garbage bag in my day pack just in case I need to keep something dry.

“… Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”