Date: 2014-03-03
To: Rain Gear Testing on a hike with the Mountaineer's
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Back in Prep Journal Entry # 11, I talked about joining the Mountaineers and going through their Wilderness Skills Course. In order to ¢graduate¢ from that course by October, the students need to go on one Mountaineers hike. In the class, they told us how to use the website to sign up for any hike from the Olympia or Seattle branch. With only a month before leaving for the Appalachian Trail thru-hike, I didn¢t think I¢d stand a chance of getting a hike that both fit my schedule and ability/pace. I guess I expect the Mountaineers to climb, well, MOUNTAINS!I went online and found a hike for Saturday, 15 February, through the Olympia branch that was in the ¢easy¢ category. The site said to register directly with the coordinator. I did, and ¢Could my husband come along as a ¢guest¢, since he¢s not a mountaineer?¢ We eventually made it a family hike, since the hike itself was structured as a ¢family hike¢ with kids. OK, so my ¢kid¢ is a 20-year-old, who has gone through the Mountaineers Wilderness First Aid and Basic Climbing courses, climbed Mt. Rainier and thru-hiked the PCT, among other things.We thought it would be good to see how I¢d feel carrying the pack and testing our rain gear, since the forecast was for rain and this IS the Pacific Northwest!We all rendezvoused north of Olympia and the leader Anne passed out directions to Stan¢s Overlook near North Bend. The group consisted of the three of us, four other adults and four children, 12 and under! We found out that Anne tries to plan one of these family hikes every month to get families with younger children out. During the rainy season (October through the Fourth of July!), they unofficially call them ¢Umbrella Hikes¢ where everyone brings umbrellas to hike with! We didn¢t have our umbrellas but were allowed to hike none the less! At the trail head, I put on my chaps, arm warmers, quilted vest, and new L.L. Bean rain shell. Michael had his chaps and silnylon, custom-made rain shell with sewn in rain mitts for over the hands while using trekking poles. I also had on a little hiking skirt, just a little stretch nylon thing, fleece wristies (like half mitts) and waterproof over-mitts. The Mountaineers recommend starting out cool at the trail head. I was definitely cool! It was raining and a lot windier than I thought it would be. We finally started hiking and the trail went up! The rain started coming down in big drops and the other families put up their umbrellas. It was fun to see different colored umbrellas bobbing up the trail. We got to an open part, the swath where the power line cuts through, and the wind really whipped through there. One umbrella did the stereotypical wind-whip, turning inside out in a flash! Kids and adults quickly walked to get to the ¢shelter¢ of the woods again, to prevent anymore inverted umbrellas and to try to fix the one.Things under control, and we continued to hike up. The three of us brought bagels and cold snacks. Anne held an umbrella while her husband fired up his backpacking stove and took orders for hot chocolate, tea and coffee! The kids set umbrellas on the ground and sat under them for shelter; they all had obviously done this routine before!I wanted a photo of the three of us at Stan¢s Overlook, probably a typical shot of various places alone the AT!We cleaned up and headed down hill, again, umbrellas bobbing down the trail. Didn¢t seem to take quite as long going down/heading back as it does going up! Funny how that is. We got to the trail head and the cars. While getting rid of wet gear and putting on dry stuff, we made plans to stop at the Starbucks in town.For Gear Testing: although I started off cool, I didn¢t overheat with just a vest and arm warmers over my wool Ibex shirt. I started to get a little cool at the overlook, but not chilled, unless we stayed there longer. What I did need to remedy was the gap between the rain chaps and my coat, especially for sitting. My backside got wet. I didn¢t get cold since I probably had enough on, but it WAS uncomfortable. Need a rain skirt. A while back I did try one from Mountain Laurel Designs, but it was too narrow in the hips for me. Got to make one, but I¢m not a clever seamstress. Hmmmm¢¦.Marilyn, Mother of¢¦.