Guide to Backpacking in the Rain

A classic article by Alan Dixon

Ha.

You are either going to get wet from not wearing a jacket or poncho in the rain, or you are going to get wet because you are wearing a jacket or poncho. Realising this is the first step towards enlightenment, but the gear vendors do not like the idea.

Cheers

What rain? I laughed when I saw the photo with the caption “Bad weather in the Sierras”. Just a few clouds, not even raining. When it’s RAINING, visibility is down to less than 20yds. Usually it’s windy too, so the rain is almost horizontal. Then there is COLD rain, just a few degrees above sleet. All three together and it’s the pits to walk in. Don’t you get that, in the PNW even?

I didn’t type the caption for that photo. That was actually after a snowstorm with zero visibility. That day, those clouds brought freezing rain all day with, in fact, little visibility.

I find rain shorts, or similar essential.

I like to lift my feet and knees. Wet pants hinder my stride.

“You are either going to get wet from not wearing a jacket or poncho in the rain, or you are going to get wet because you are wearing a jacket or poncho. Realising this is the first step towards enlightenment, but the gear vendors do not like the idea.”

+1  Get used to hiking wet, and concentrate on staying warm.