Date: 2006-08-29
To: Prep #46--I vaunt to sauck yur blood
Miles today: 0.0

I had an unexpected opportunity to hike in the rain yesterday after work, so I did just that. Granted...a puny 2 miles on flat trail, but it was still pretty cool. I hadn't been on this trail in several months and was surprised at how different it looked w/all of the trees and bushes in full bloom.This gave me an opportunity to test a few pieces of gear. I wore my Frogg Toggs jacket (no Frogg Togg pants...too warm), and here's what I really like about it. It has snaps and a zipper, so I was able to keep air flow into the jacket by not zipping and only snapping a few of the snaps. It wasn't raining that hard, but if it had been a torrential downpour, I probably would have snapped it all the way up. So I could regulate my body temp. because of the snaps and zipper. I wore the jacket the whole time and my upper body was bone dry when I got home.I also got to test out my silnylon packcover. I actually use the thing upside down. The directions sent by Brian (maker of my Catalyst pack) said to use the elastic on top and the clasps on the bottom. I flipped it and the elastic pulled right over my sleeping pad perfectly, which allowed me to use the clasps at the top, guaranteeing that my pack cover would not come off. I also had the inside of my pack lined w/a cheap trashbag (I'll use a heavier one next year), but everything stayed completely dry. Finally, I got to use my new nalgene canteens w/my drinking tube. It was as perfect as I had hoped. I stayed hydrated and didn't have to take my pack off to do it.Now, just before I left, I sprayed some of that good smellin' "Off" bug spray on me. Wow...that stuff doesn't work very well in a trail setting. If I stopped to look at something, I was swarmed, so I just kept moving. The mosquitos who dwell in this small wooded area enjoyed an AYCE (all you can eat) buffet yesterday, and it was all provided free of charge by yours truly. I think I had bites on top of bites....so much for preventing West Nile. (according to one of my friends...you can only get that on the Nile...hilarious huh?)It was also raining hard enough for the mesh areas of my trailrunners to become totally saturated. I could feel the coolness of the rainwater on the tops of my feet, but the gortex around the toes and heel area seemed to do what they were made to do. My feet stayed dry in those blister-prone areas. I still have had zero blisters and/or hotspots in these shoes. My long overnight hike will be the first real test... though I'm confident about all of it working out.Last but not least, I decided to see how setting up just my rainfly of my Hubba w/the pole would work. So, with neighbors peeking out of their doors and probably questioning my sanity, I (out in the rain as usual) went into the courtyard and set it up. At first, the pole tried to flip the other direction, so instead of having an arched rainfly to sit under, I had created a very nice looking boat-like "tub" to sit in. Didn't really feel like sitting in a tub that would fill w/water, so I unhooked one end of the fly from the pole and held the pole in the proper direction. Whalla!!! Finally, got it. I crawled inside and sat on the wet ground and ate beef jerky and dehydrated banana chips. (I'm starting to question my own sanity now....) It kept me dry and I think I'll try seeing how hard it is to put this up first, and then erect the tent under it. Just a thought. So to top all of that off, as I got out of my truck this morning to walk to work, the sky was gloomy grey, there was a cool briskness in the air, and the feeling of Fall was all around me. The only thing out of place was all of the green grass and green tree leaves, but I bet that will all be changing in a few weeks. Man...this stupid black clock on my wall w/its "tick..tick..tick..tick" really is getting me somewhere isn't it? The time is slowly going by.