[Philmont] pack covers & rain pants

Hi Pholks,

Just returned from Philmont last night, Treks 21 (807 H1) & 24 (807 H2). I
must say that my previous two trips in '01 and '04 were in late June/early
July, so this trip in mid-August was a real experience. For one thing, IT
RAINED EVERY SINGLE DAY EXCEPT ONE.

On our first few days out it rained moderately for 2-4 hours each afternoon.
Great for afternoon naps or cards in the tents, but our program was
cancelled twice for safety reasons. Also, let me tell you, pulling a burro
for two days in the rain is really a pain in the a**, no pun intended. With
all the rain from the month of July, Logistics had told us that all streams
were flowing and several new ones popped up. One in particular leaving Ponil
was over two and a half feet deep of fast moving water. Just in case you
weren't aware, burros don't like to cross mud puddles, let alone rushing
water. They will, but they need a little "motivation", which is hard to
provide when you are trying to navigate the rushing waters and slippery
footing yourself. On our third day, during Challenge events at Head of Dean,
the skies literally -- and quite suddenly -- just opened up with rain drops
as large a quarters. The event was immediately cancelled in a mad dash back
to the staff cabin, but some of us went back to our site, arriving just in
time to watch the hillside on which we were camping turn into a mudslide
which poured down the hill into our Trekker Tarp. My Marmot Precip jacket,
although waterproof, was simply overwhelmed by the sudden volume of water.
It was all we could do to get into the tents to sit out the sudden storm. It
lasted over two hours of raging downpour and violently loud thunder and
lightening.

This storm, as most during our trek, came with a sudden and significant,
cold front as the storm passed. Each time, the temperature dropped at least
10 degrees and became quite noticeably chilly/cold. It might have been
August, which is warm in most parts; but this season in Philmont, August at
altitude seemed more like mid-Fall. My sleeping bag was still in the pack
under the much used, and thankfully waterproofed, pack cover. I was soaking
wet through, but no dry clothes were available (Yep, out in the pack also).
So I took off the wet sock liners, put the wool outer socks back on, zipped
on the legs of my hiking pants and put the bottoms of my rain gear on as
well. Those rain pants can do more than just repel water, they can also help
to hold in body heat to stave off hypothermia. In my case they provided a
second layer of much needed insulation.

We ran into a crew at Cimarroncito a few days later who had endured this
same downpour PLUS marble sized hail that covered the ground almost two
inches thick up at Crater Lake. According to the Advisor, there were 20-30
pholks crammed into a shower building trying to escape the pummeling.
Fortunately no gear was ruined -- everything was just coated in mud.

We never had another storm quite like that during the remaining trek, but
often got 4+ hours of rain daily. Fortunately, the weather shifted slightly
after day five and most of the remaining rain came during the evening hours.

So, for those who don't think they need rain jackets or pants because their
body engines stay hot all the time, I would say that a few ounces for
quality rain gear is worth far more than their weight. IMHO, rain gear
should be as good as you can afford and is second only to your pack in terms
of value and importance. After the fact is a poor time to realize you should
have gotten better gear. Think about the price of comfort versus being
miserably wet when you are hiking in the rain day after day after day.

The good news is that our crews all, to a person, had a great attitude and a
great time despite the inconveniences of the rain!

R/
Mark

Mark Jaffry
Associate Advisor
Venture Crew 850
Stafford, Virginia
01-704H1, 04-702F2, 06-807H2

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Received on Sun Aug 20 15:16:20 2006