Date: 2019-02-22
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Miles today: 0.0

The UnexpectedLast week I was doing some follow upgear checks and trying to get in a little hill climbing. The weatherreport indicated rain in southern Indiana, so I didn't pay a lot ofattention to it. I've been rained on before. Well, to make a longstory short, I ended up stranded in rising flood waters and had toleave my vehicle and spend the night on higher ground.A Decision to Stay PutI contacted the State Forest RangerStation left a message in case they found my truck. Then I preparedto spend the night on the hill. Ranger Derrick later informed methere was a high wind warning with gusts to 45 mph. He offered topick me up at the other end of the lake if I wanted to hike out, butI didn't want to get that far away from my truck if the waterreceded.Hunker DownI entered my tent at 4:00 pm, early asit may seem, but I rarely build a fire. Getting warm was my firstpriority. I checked in with my wife and some friends, checked theweather reports and confirmed the high wind warnings. The windadvisory had come in since my last check. I had not waited for thatconfirmation. I set my tent up in the lee of a stout tree. The windwhipping around the tree divided and faced a tight wind break formedby the back corner of my rain fly. I chose the base tree because itwas standing on flat ground and seemed to have a strong root base. Ialso checked to make sure there were no widow-makers above this spot.A Long NightI suppose it was a little crazy to stayout there, but now, I'm training and gear testing for the AT. Mightas well have it real. Except for the truck trapped in flood part. Ofcourse. The night was long, the winds blew constantly, andoccasionally a gust would roar thru the dip in the ridge a hundredyards away. Two falling trees, with their screeching limbs, broke thesound of the wind, before crashing like thunder to the ground.Interesting night.Elusive ComfortTemperatures fell to 25°F, a suitabletest for my reexamined sleeping gear. I had added both liners alongwith a thicker, but lighter air pad. Since that night, I have added aspace blanket under my air pad, shiny side up to assist on very coldnights, recommended by my friend Drop Bear, from Victoria, Australia.Through the winter I have picked over the equipment in my kit forweight. An optimized pack might still contain a little comfort. Noneed to suffer out there, I would rather enjoy it.Adding heat conservation layer.Oh Yeah, the TruckWell, the truck is fine. The waterreceded during the night and didn't get higher than the tires. Islept in a little, to balance the lack of sleep. In addition to thetrees falling, about a dozen of those 45 mph freight train like windgusts swept through until about 4:00 AM. I eventually left mysleeping bag, put on frozen boots and checked on my truck.OnwardYa, I really pulled a greenhorn movegetting my truck stranded, but I have been fording that stream sinceI was a toddler. I've never witnessed that bottom land flood before.I made the best of it and put my gear through a stress test underharsh conditions. Glad I did. I took time to consider the tentlocation for sheltering in a saturated forest under high windadvisory. My technique may provide an edge and will become a standardpractice when similar conditions arise. Nobody wants to get clobberedby a tree. Let me leave you with something I saw along the trail that day that represents the beauty of the forest to me.An Oyster Mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus found in the midwinter forest.