Roadwalks
Days 21 and 22: 33 miles
These next two days are dominated by paved roadwalks, and not particularly interesting roads at that. The scenery is nice enough; ranchland lines the road most of the way. But there are a couple high speed expressway sections that are flat out unenjoyable if not a bit dangerous, and the quieter two lane rural roads have no shoulder and the speeds of the few cars and trucks that do roar by are high.
I make up my mind to enjoy the roads for what they are, and not get caught up in the trap of wishing things were different. It is what it is, and I settle in at a moderate pace. A couple hours in I realize that things are actually pretty good. The road crown is pretty flat, not canted steeply, and that is much easier on my feet and ankles. The weather is overcast and cool; way nicer for a roadwalk than hot and sunny. And finally, there are water caches set up for Florida Trail hikers every 7-10 miles or so. I realize all this as I'm taking my first break at about 11am, and I'm pretty cheery about it all.
Then it begins to rain.
At first, it's just a drizzle. But I notice my sleeves getting damp, and I know I don't want to get wet. So, I dig out my raingear and layer up. A waterproof cover for the pack, a rainjacket and a rainskirt for me. Yes, not rain pants, but a skirt. Except in very cold rainstorms, I like the ultralight waterproof skirt rather than pants. Rain pants are a fairly heavy, bulky item for something that gets used pretty rarely. Plus, I get sweaty in them, and end up getting wet from the inside out. That leads me to typically delay putting them on, and then I'm already damp when I do. The skirt solves all that. I don't get sweaty, I don't mind donning it early, and I'm comfortable wearing it all day. The one downside is that I have to zip off the lower legs of my hiking pants and effectively hike with shorts under the skirt. Otherwise, the lower legs get soaked. Works great unless it's really cold.
I walk on, wondering when the rain will stop. It doesn't. It rains all afternoon, most of the night, and is still raining the next morning when I take my tent down.
Staying dry when backpacking or camping is important. Wet and cold together can be dangerous. My sleeping bag, air mattress, and puffy jacket are all secure in a plastic bag inside the also covered backpack; they'll be dry and keep me warm. I know I'll be good if I can 1)stay dry while walking, and 2)keep my tent and gear mostly dry when getting it set up. The tent will keep me dry once I have it set up.
I also carry an umbrella; it's a lightweight sun umbrella for hot and sunny days, and it works fine in the rain too.
With my skirt and jacket on, hood up, and umbrella shielding my head and shoulders from the rain, I stay pretty dry. There's a bit of wicking at my sleeves, but none around my neck or shoulders thanks to the umbrella. I wear a very light rainjacket backpacking, and as it's not fully rubberized and waterproof, it'll eventually wet through at the backpack shoulder straps. But with the umbrella keeping them dry, that's not happening. My lower legs and feet are wet, but my feet have been wet most days anyway because of the trail, and my lower legs don't make me feel cold. Overall, I'm mostly dry and staying warm as I walk. Will I be able to stay warm and dry like this if it keeps raining? I don't know, but I figure I'd be good for three or four days in these conditions. I hope the storm won't last that long, but I make a note to check the weather forecast when I get service again. I can always bail to a town for a motel if I need to. I just don't want to - I want a good rain solution I can count on.
As dusk begins to fall, I wait for a lull in the rain. When it does lighten up, I race to set up my tent. I toss everything inside and take stock: tent floor mostly dry, all my important gear is dry, and I'm warm. Victory! I sleep almost straight through the night, and hope for a clear morning.
In the morning, it's still raining, and I decide to try a new trick for setting up and tearing down the tent in the rain. I love my tent - it's light, freestanding, and dual wall, but is horrible setting up and tearing down in the rain. The rainfly goes on last and comes off first, and as soon as I take it off in the morning the tent is going to start getting wet.
Since my last backpacking trip when my tent did get wet, I tied grommets on to thin nylon cord, then tied that cord into a triangle to fit my tent's footprint. In theory, I should be able to use that to secure the tent poles and have that independently hold the rainfly up without depending on the tent structure. That should allow me to set up or take down the tent from underneath the rainfly, without ever exposing the tent to rain. Sounds good, right? My hiking partner on the Arizona Trail asked if I'd ever actually tried it in the rain. I admitted I had not. She snorted, and wished me luck.
It took a while to work out the steps, but in the end I got the tent and gear packed up while staying dry under the rainfly the whole time. Good thing I wasn't in a hurry, though! I set off for the second day of roadwalk in the rain, but with my tent and gear just as dry as the day before. Yes!
Day 2 was pretty much a repeat of day 1, with rain off and on all day, sometimes heavy. I walked 17 miles in my raingear, and again stayed pretty dry. I concluded I could sustain this day after day after all, exactly what I was hoping for.
In the end, a 2 day roadwalk that could have been a very unenjoyable experience turned out to be an interesting adventure in working out new gear and gaining confidence in wet conditions. I'll take it!
329 miles, 19 hiking days, 2.5 rest days
