 I admit it, I’m a wimp when it comes to rainy weather while I’m at home. If it’s raining at home I’m less than enthused to go outside for a walk. You might even (almost always) hear me say “ugh, it’s raining.” And, I have a dog that shares my sentiments – why go outside when the inside is cozy and dry? My stubborn, cheeky dog sometimes (almost always) won’t go beyond the front step if it’s raining. It’s battle of wills and fierce negotiation about how long we need to be outside (he wins most of the time, naturally). But truly, I don’t blame him for not wanting to get rain soaked. That said, I’m not one to let rain stop me on a hike. In fact, I love the challenge of hiking in the rain – now that is.  If you’ve read my previous post – Bring more socks than underwear – then you know that I’m a huge fan of merino wool socks. One of the reasons I love them is because they absorb water when it seeps into your boots – I speak from experience. Thankfully I got a good story out of that experience. One day on Conic hill, in the bitter cold pouring rain, with sometimes hail, I was not a happy hiker. My crazy experience on Conic Hill (or as my sister and I called it that day, Chronic Pain Hill) on Scotland’s West Highland Way forever changed the way I feel about socks and rain gear but also the importance of the word waterproof. One of the things about hiking is that every hike that you do, you learn what works and what doesn’t. In this case I learned what doesn’t work when it comes to gear and clothing. Lessons from Conic Hill: 1. Water resistant does not equal waterproof. On the WHW I wore water resistant hiking shoes, which didn’t stay dry for more than an hour that day. I had also worn a rain jacket that I’d had for a few years. What I didn’t notice until it was too late (wet) was that some of the inside liner had started to wear down and wasn’t as waterproof as I had thought it would be. 2. If you didn’t know you had holes in your rain pants, you will find out the hard way that you do because rain likes nothing better than seeping into your clothes. On the WHW I had borrowed a pair of rain pants from a generous friend except I didn’t know they had very small holes along the seams. Water found its way into the holes and soaked my pants thoroughly. 3. Wear gaiters that properly fit your footwear. The gaiters I had were too short and small, and so water basically trickled down directly into my shoes. 4. A Dyson hand dryer is excellent for when you need to dry clothes quickly* With my wet feet/soggy clothing experience behind me, I learned a lot about being better prepared for the wind, rain, hail, snow, sleet, mud, etc. Besides, how many Dyson hand dryers are you going to find on a hike in (what can seem like) the middle of nowhere? My new & improved waterproof gear now includes: 1. Fully waterproof Gortex hiking boots (hot in the summer but keep your feet dry so very worth it) and a solid Gortex rain jacket, again warm but rainproof. 2. Mid calf-height gaiters. 3. Waterproof rain pants. Before you empty your wallet at the stores and buy all new gear, because good gear can get expensive, here are my recommendations: Look out for end-of-season sales because that’s when you can score on the really good stuff for half the price. Waterproof is still waterproof on sale. I don’t care that my jacket was last season as long as it keeps me dry. The trail is not a runway after all.  I put all my updated gear to the test last summer in Ireland on a very windy raining day on The Kerry Way between Cahersiveen & Waterville. It was one of those days where you couldn’t see more than fifty feet ahead because of the low cloud and I loved it!
We had planned for rain and we were ready for it (this time for real!) because it was Ireland after all! We walked for a whole day through rain, puddles, mud and meadow muffins (deceptively looks like mud but definitely not mud if you know what I mean), and the only thing that got wet were my gloves and my neck buff – both open to the rain. What a different experience it is to walk in the rain with dry feet! And by different I mean a helluva lot better/more enjoyable/Julie Andrews singing-on-top-of-a-mountain good because when you’re not suffering in wet clothes, socks, boots, etc., walking in the rain can be incredibly liberating. I hope that your next hike through a rainy day is dry and if my experience helps you in a small way so that you don’t have to go through what I did, then you’re already miles ahead of me. Now, if only my dog liked wearing a raincoat and boots… *At the bottom Conic Hill there was a restaurant and the ladies room was equipped with a Dyson hand dryer. I can only imagine what the other ladies thought of me standing there half-dressed holding my pants in the dryer. Very effective but totally embarrassing.
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