Rain Gear Check at Rhododendron Park

The rhododendrons are in full bloom and so I set up this week's Hike Together at Rhododendron Park in Coupeville. A couple people responded with a tentative yes, dependent on the weather. I left for the park at 1:15pm just as the skies opened and a deluge of rain began. It was the kind of downpour that I would normally have turned around and gone home in rather than hike. 

But for me, it was perfect. I wanted to test out some rain gear that I will be taking to Scotland in two weeks when I hike the West Highland Way. The West Highland Way is a 96 mile hike from Milngavie (north of Glasgow) to Fort Williams. It winds past beautiful lochs, heather and moors in the Scottish Highlands. The weather can be quite wet. It is approximately the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska, and Moscow, Russia. I plan to wild camp while in Scotland so good rain gear is a must.

It was raining so hard I had to turn my windshield wipers on high and I almost missed the turn off to the trailhead. I parked and waited five minutes, pretty sure that no one would show up. No one did. I was eager to see how my new pair of waterproof socks would do, along with my new Altra shoes. After trying out my waterproof socks and shoes two weeks ago, I determined that I needed an extra small pair of socks instead of small, and that I needed to upsize my hiking shoes a half size. My new socks and shoes arrived two days ago.

I was wearing my Columbia titanium raincoat with my homemade rain skirt. I secured my Gregory Pack cover to my Deva 60 pack, picked up my hiking poles and away I went.

I followed the road through the campground and past the locked gate. Rain splatted on my hood with large plops as I click clacked down the road with my hiking poles, enjoying the sight of splashes of pink rhododendrons against the gray green of the forest. 

After I came to the gate at the end of the road I turned around, taking the Grandpa's Legacy trail back until it rejoined the Rhodie Trail. The rain continued unabated and I deliberately splashed through some puddles as I traveled back. Despite the beautiful rhododendrons, this park is not one of my favorite places to hike. The forest seems oppressive and the whole park has kind of a creepy feel to it. Oddly, the Rhodie Trail seems to go downhill both ways. 

After 2.4 miles in 50 minutes, I returned to my car, where I took off my rain skirt and stuck my pack in the back. The rain skirt had done a great job of keeping my legs dry, except for the calves and ankle where the skirt didn't cover. But I made a rookie mistake with my coat. I forgot to zip up the pits and I didn't realize it until I felt my sides getting wet. 

I drove home and hauled my pack into the house, toeing off my soaked shoes. I was very curious about my socks. I took them off and they were soaked on the outside. The right one felt a tiny bit damp inside but the left was dry.

jury is still out

I set my pack on the bench as I took off and examined my socks. Later I went back to my pack and realized when I took the pack cover off that the bottom of the pack was wet. I pulled out everything to see if anything inside was wet but everything inside had stayed dry. I don't know if the bottom of the pack got wet while I walked or if it got wet when I set it down with the wet rain cover still on it. It will be a good thing to check on another rainy day.

wet bottom of pack

All in all, my rain gear performed well, although that damp right sock has me concerned. I may return them and get a different pair.

coat and rain skirt performed well

Ten days left of school and then I'm off to Scotland!! Stay tuned for more updates.