#250...

This is posting #250 for me since I started this little project. Thought I would put that out there.

I got hailed on today. This is really a first for me. I've been snowed on. Iced on. Rained on. Spit on. And just about any other "on" you can think of while pursuing outdoor activities in my lifetime, but today, was the first time I got hailed on. Truth be told, it hurt like a mo-fo. Bear in mind, these were not big hail stones, about the size of say 2 pencil erasers taped together. Add in the rain, the thunder, the lightening, the hail, the wind, and the sudden temperature shift (I'd say it dropped by about 20 degrees from warm and somewhat humid to, holy shit I can see my breath in June in NC in about 2 minutes), and you have a pretty miserable one mile's worth of hiking. 

I went out for a 10 mile trek through the woods in and around Boone, NC today. I've been hiking almost every weekend when I go to see the wife, and this weekend, I decided to do a little extended hiking. 2 miles of my normal 5 mile loop. When I started out at the campground, the sky was blue, the sun was out, and there were little white puffy clouds all around. I figured, hey, don't need the rain gear. Big mistake methinks now. I got around to about mile 10, it got really dark, and really quiet. I stopped, put my iPod deep into the recesses of my bag, busted out the built in rain fly, wrapped up my pack, threw it back on, and started running through the rest of the trail. It was the typical, "Drop. Drop. Drop. KABOOSH!!!" when the bottom dropped out. I really couldn't see maybe only 4-5 feet in front of me. Luckily, I was only about a mile from the car. By the time the bottom dropped out, with the rocks, and roots in the way, it wasn't really safe to run, so I slowed to a really fast walk. As I emerged out of the woods near the start of the campground, I could see people ducking for cover, grabbing small children, and scrambling for the sanctuary of their cars. I, on the other hand, had to keep walking in the rain. Then, about 4 minutes out from my goal, that's when the hail started. Damn, that stuff hurts when it hits you in the head, and there was plenty of it. By the time the storm settled down, there were huge piles of it on the grass. It looked like someone had dumped out their large cooler full of ice onto the lawns of the park. It was crazy looking. After I get near to my car, I took temporary shelter in the women's bathroom with about 7 other folks who were also out hiking at the time, and a couple of nice dogs. I had also mistakenly just worn a t-shirt, which was now soaked, and with the temperature dropping, it was getting sort of chilly. There were a couple of times when the storm let up a little bit, and I thought about making a dash to the car, and then it would strengthen again. It was pretty damn amazing watching the pellets of ice fall and hit the ground, and the plastic roof of the bathroom. It was freakin' loud.

Lessons learned from this hike. Bring rain gear. You never know when you'll need it. Get some sort of synthetic fiber shirts to wear hiking. I've got the quick dry shorts, I don't need to be wearing t-shirts when I could use something more breathable, and faster drying. And maybe bring a helmet for next time. I've seen worse weather though, like the time I was on top of Mt. Washington in NH, and the clouds rolled in, and it started snowing. In August. I actually had proper clothing then though. But that was pretty wild. 

The really cool thing about driving to Beech Mountain on the weekends to see the wife (well, other than going to see the wife of course) is to drive through the little tiny, and twisty mountain roads that I have to take to get there. This is where the WRX tends to really excel, and by excel, I mean, I can rail that car through there at high speeds, tires squealing, and it LOVES it. I swear it does. I always try to not get behind anyone going into the mountains, because then I can wind it up, and have some fun driving through there. The best part is that the road surfaces are really well maintained, and the pavement is looking good. I highly recommend getting a car like mine out there on these roads. You'll see what they were built for in the first place. Other acceptable cars in this category would be something like a Mini Cooper S, Lancer EVO (IX, or X would do just fine), STi, VW GTI, and I'm sure there are a few others in there that I'm forgetting. It's fun, really super duper fun. Try it. You won't be sorry.