Yesterday we hiked from Rockaway to Louth Falls. We took only one car so had to hike there and back. It was one of our more enjoyable hikes. Well, it did rain for half the time…
We had the trail to ourselves and there was a fair bit of up and down. More that a lot of the trails here we’ve done so far.
It started raining about 15 minutes before we got to Louth Falls. Took us just under 2 hours to get there from Rockway parking lot. We tend to dilly-dally taking photos and such so if you are hiking in earnest it will likely take you an hour each way. Total was a little over 10K the way we did it.
My wife brought a walking stick/ski pole. I should have brought something. We have good walking sticks but most of the hikes we have been on in the Niagara region, there really has been no need. As there was a fair bit of ups and downs on this hike and with the rain and all it made for some pretty slippery slopes. Definitely would have made my life easier.
Also, the rain made a good argument for carrying a dry shirt and even a light rain slicker. I was once hiking Ha Ling, up behind Canmore, Alberta. It was quite warm where we started and I was drenched with sweat by the time I got to the top. Tough climb. There were snow flurries at the top. Fortunately I had a dry shirt in my backpack that I could change into.
I read in some adventure or spy novel once a very smart idea in case of rain when you are stuck in the woods. If all you had was a large plastic back that was waterproof, you could place all of your clothes in that while it was raining, (yeah, if you are soaked, you are going to get freezing cold anyway), once the rain had stopped, you cold dress in dry clothes and you would actually be much better off than if you let your clothes get drenched. A simple plastic bag of some sort is practically weightless.
By the time we got back to the car the rain had, of course, stopped.
We likely only have a couple more good hikes that we can get in before the kayaks come out and we on the rivers and lakes instead of the trails.
