[at-l] O2 rainwear

[bluetrail at aol.com]

Strange, my sweetie Jon once got hypothermic on a Shennandoah's hike in early May--between Skyland and Panorama.  We spent the night at Skyland and had the "clever" idea of slacking to Panorama.  We had checked the weather forecast which said NO rain.  The Skyland desk clerk said he'd take our packs to Panorama when he got off his shift at 7:00 a.m.  We had been told that the Panorama restaurant was open and we planned  At 6:45, we locked our packs into his car.  All we had were fanny packs with snacks and water--no rain gear.  (Yeah, DUMB.)



By 7:00, it was raining.  Temperature when we started was in the 60's.  After about an hour of hiking, the temperature began to drop.  Winds picked up.  At one point we hundled in a picnic ground bathroom just to get out of the weather, but trudged on.  I stopped to moleskin a hot spot and noticed that Jon was starting to shake.  About five miles in, I started urging Jon to pass me and move along to get to Panorama, as I was considerably slower than he could go.  He wouldn't leave me.  I was hiking in front.  After about 7 miles I called for a break.  I heard from behind me, "We CAN"T stop."  I turned around and looked at him.  He was really shaking.



I moved as fast as I could down from Mary's Rock.  I kept promising Jon we'd have hot soup at the restaurant.  When we got there, the restaurant was still closed.  Fortunately, our packs were there near the door.  It was really foggy, getting colder, and still windy.  Jon stripped right out of his wet clothes and put on some dry stuff from his pack.  His fingers were so cold that he couldn't fasten or zip his pants; I had to do that for him.  



Fortunately, a guy in a pickup pulled up about that time and asked if we needed anything.  We hitched with him into Luray.  His truck was luxuriously warm, but it still took Jon about 30 minutes to stop shaking.  Bought the driver lunch and ourselves plenty of hot soup.  AND we got a motel room for the night.  



Now I always carry an emergency cheapie poncho or at least a large garbage bag everytime I hike.



Joan  


-----Original Message-----
From: Jan Lite <liteshoe at gmail.com>
To: at-l <at-l at backcountry.net>; Felix J <AThiker at smithville.net>; mfactor at gmail.com
Sent: Wed, Oct 14, 2009 11:28 am
Subject: Re: [at-l] O2 rainwear




>or for some people who just don't have the
metabolism to get warm and stay warm when and if it starts to rain.
>For these situations, it is dangerous to be out there without means of
staying warm.
>I generally say that rain gear is not meant to keep you dry, it's
meant to keep you warm.  There's nothing wrong with being wet if
>you're warm.  There is a problem being wet if you get cold.

Agree here, says the chilly one).

Wench and I used to joke that you can either be warm and wet or cold and wet (depending on whether you used your rain gear or not).
Because of my tendency to cool quickly, it would be a must for me. I remember hiking in the relatively flat Shenandoahs one rainy May day and becoming so hypothermic - even with my rain jacket on - that my companions stationed themselves in front and behind me, and made me eat part of (their) candy bar.  (Now, THAT'S hiker love!;-) ) Without my rain gear, I would have been in worse trouble.


As for Felix not needing rain gear, I understand that, he just runs hot!
;-)

And Hotdog, I vaguely remember Wench spltiting her O2 pants early on, but where were the holes in my raincoat?
I may be misremembering, it was six (sob!) years ago, but I still wear the jacket - sans duct tape. Still, I wouldn't expect them to last as long as they have, being thin.

I don't car for rain pants anyway, too hot. The Hefty Cinch Sack Rain skirt suits my needs in many ways. Oh so many ways....




-- 
"The Ordinary Adventurer" 
A new backpacking adventure book
http://www.FunFreedom.com



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