Sept 11 2007
Today 80.4 Total 5766.3
Last night took the cake for bad nights. When I set up my hammock the trees I used were farther apart then I usually use. So there was a lot of rope showing from under the tarp. Also the snake skins that are used for storing the hammock I had stretched out along the ropes. This usually keeps the ropes from getting wet from the rain. It poured all night no big deal right? The rain was pouring down the trunks of the trees when it hit the ropes it poured down the ropes and with the snake skins working like big funnels poured into the hammock. Being a gravity slut once the water was in the hammock it looked the lowest point to get out which happen to be right under my butt. At first I was happily oblivious to the science fair occurring around me. My first inkling that some thing was wrong was when I woke up because my feet were cold. With my new sleeping bag and my wool socks my feet don't get cold. So I reached down thinking the zipper of my sleeping bag had come open at the bottom. That's when I realized how wet it was in the hammock. I immediately got up and tried to fix everything but it was no use everything was so saturated that even though I slowed the rate of the flow it was still wicking in. As I carefully crawled back into my sleeping bag I was actually quite impressed with how well it had repelled the water. For as wet as the hammock was my sleeping bag was only slightly damp and only at the feet. Now I have that chair kit on my 3/4 length thermarest. I never take the stays out so with the extra weather proofing the chair has on the bottom side, and the stay working like little pontoons I was actually dry as long as I stayed on my little life raft. Unfortunately this required me being in the fetal position for several hours. The adult human body is not designed to be in the fetal position for long stretches of time which my right calf was kind enough to remind me of when it broke into a violent charlie horse that no amount of toe wiggling or ankle turning would get rid of. So I sat up quickly tried to get out of the hammock before I got wet. Now normally I bring my crocks into the hammocks with me but after the middle of the night jaunt they were pretty muddy so I left them out. Remember we talked about gravity feed? Well I guess my crocs were at the bottom of my little fountain. I had one foot fully in its shoe and other on the way before the sensation crept into my brain. I had some very un-lady-like things to say as I hobbled, hunched over, under my tarp, trying to work off my leg cramp. Six-thirty in the morning, wet feet, wet hammock,wet tarp, wet sleeping gear, wet bike and wet disposition. I thought I might as well pack up and go.
I made it as far as Pembroke it had been raining off and on all day but nothing like the torrential downpour of the night before. When I got to the campsite I paid then asked about the showers. The young fellow at the desk said I had to pick a site and get set up before he could give me a key. It was at this point that it just started pouring again. So I asked if I could have a key and get set up later. That was not an option. So it was raining buckets and I'm trying to get my tarp set up. By the time I was done it looked like I had a shower already. I shloshed my way back to the entrance way and very tersely said 19. I then took my key and huffed and muttered my way to the ladies shower room. It was huge so I brought Phebea in and proceeded to try to dry out my life. I had stuff hanging from ever surface imaginable. The rain didn't let up for two hours so I sat in the ladies room waiting it out. I was actually contemplating spending the night in there if I had to. When it finally quit raining I took the hammock outside hoping to get it dried out before bedtime.
Today 80.4 Total 5766.3
Last night took the cake for bad nights. When I set up my hammock the trees I used were farther apart then I usually use. So there was a lot of rope showing from under the tarp. Also the snake skins that are used for storing the hammock I had stretched out along the ropes. This usually keeps the ropes from getting wet from the rain. It poured all night no big deal right? The rain was pouring down the trunks of the trees when it hit the ropes it poured down the ropes and with the snake skins working like big funnels poured into the hammock. Being a gravity slut once the water was in the hammock it looked the lowest point to get out which happen to be right under my butt. At first I was happily oblivious to the science fair occurring around me. My first inkling that some thing was wrong was when I woke up because my feet were cold. With my new sleeping bag and my wool socks my feet don't get cold. So I reached down thinking the zipper of my sleeping bag had come open at the bottom. That's when I realized how wet it was in the hammock. I immediately got up and tried to fix everything but it was no use everything was so saturated that even though I slowed the rate of the flow it was still wicking in. As I carefully crawled back into my sleeping bag I was actually quite impressed with how well it had repelled the water. For as wet as the hammock was my sleeping bag was only slightly damp and only at the feet. Now I have that chair kit on my 3/4 length thermarest. I never take the stays out so with the extra weather proofing the chair has on the bottom side, and the stay working like little pontoons I was actually dry as long as I stayed on my little life raft. Unfortunately this required me being in the fetal position for several hours. The adult human body is not designed to be in the fetal position for long stretches of time which my right calf was kind enough to remind me of when it broke into a violent charlie horse that no amount of toe wiggling or ankle turning would get rid of. So I sat up quickly tried to get out of the hammock before I got wet. Now normally I bring my crocks into the hammocks with me but after the middle of the night jaunt they were pretty muddy so I left them out. Remember we talked about gravity feed? Well I guess my crocs were at the bottom of my little fountain. I had one foot fully in its shoe and other on the way before the sensation crept into my brain. I had some very un-lady-like things to say as I hobbled, hunched over, under my tarp, trying to work off my leg cramp. Six-thirty in the morning, wet feet, wet hammock,wet tarp, wet sleeping gear, wet bike and wet disposition. I thought I might as well pack up and go.
I made it as far as Pembroke it had been raining off and on all day but nothing like the torrential downpour of the night before. When I got to the campsite I paid then asked about the showers. The young fellow at the desk said I had to pick a site and get set up before he could give me a key. It was at this point that it just started pouring again. So I asked if I could have a key and get set up later. That was not an option. So it was raining buckets and I'm trying to get my tarp set up. By the time I was done it looked like I had a shower already. I shloshed my way back to the entrance way and very tersely said 19. I then took my key and huffed and muttered my way to the ladies shower room. It was huge so I brought Phebea in and proceeded to try to dry out my life. I had stuff hanging from ever surface imaginable. The rain didn't let up for two hours so I sat in the ladies room waiting it out. I was actually contemplating spending the night in there if I had to. When it finally quit raining I took the hammock outside hoping to get it dried out before bedtime.
Trying to get my hammock dried out.
After the storm
The minute I emerged the young guy came out of his booth and came over to talk to me. He asked if everything was all right. So I told him about my night and how I was just trying to get everything dried out. Now the laundry had been locked up Jay (the young guy) not only unlocked it for me he unlocked the driers so I could dry everything out without having to pay for it. I could have kissed him. (Relax he was way too young for my cougar instincts to kick in.) So I got my life dried out and had a great sleep.
If anyone has friends or family in Quebec or the Maritimes tell them to batten down the hatches. The giggle queen's coming and it ain't going to be pretty.
If anyone has friends or family in Quebec or the Maritimes tell them to batten down the hatches. The giggle queen's coming and it ain't going to be pretty.
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