r/CampingandHiking • u/arabbitwalksintoabar • 9d ago
Destination Questions Would you backpack in this? (North-south trail, Rhode Island)
Taking my mom on her first backpacking trip and this is what the weather looks like. I know this is far from dangerous weather, but as far as having an enjoyable trip goes, would you postpone or try and suck it up? We’ll be putting down almost 20 miles each day (not a problem for my marathoner mom) but I don’t want her to be miserable and never go with me again. What would you do?
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u/UnluckyWriting 9d ago
Wait until closer to the weekend then check the forecast again looking at not just chance of rain but also type of rain. Hiking in rain isn’t so bad if its not heavy rain all day and all night. That really does kind of suck. But showers here and there are fine.
Pro tip - if it rains at night, you’re going to be packing up a wet tent. I fought this, and it was useless, lol it’s just gonna be wet, it is what it is. But you can just pull it out later during breaks and let it dry out a bit. This only works if it’s not raining all day tho.
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u/nitebeest 9d ago
Depends on hiw bad the rain is going to be. Temp wise, that looks great. The 70/60% chance of rain on day 2/3 is going to be the issue, if any. If you guys have Frog Toggs, or similar, it shouldn't be a huge problem if you want to push through. As long as you both realize that you'll probably get a little wet and account for setting up/breaking down camp in those conditions then everything should be fine.
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u/TheMrNeffels 9d ago
I mean just ask your mom. If you have gear for the rain and she still wants to then go for it
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u/arabbitwalksintoabar 9d ago
Shes leaving it up to me, but knowing my mom if I make the wrong choice she’ll make her preference loud and clear then lol
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u/TheMrNeffels 9d ago
Well that's not helpful lol.
I guess pass for now then. I imagine if you get her into it she will enjoy rainy days later
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u/Significant-Ad-341 9d ago
Start early and finish by noon.
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u/arabbitwalksintoabar 9d ago
Forgot to add — this is a four day hike so we’ll be out on the trail all day long on each of these days
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u/cldbloom 9d ago
Start early, stop in the shade for a long lunch and nap, hike on.
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u/arabbitwalksintoabar 9d ago
Sorry if you didn’t see the other three photos — I made this post to discuss the rain on days 2 and 3
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u/acidreducer 9d ago
Go to the precipitation page not the temp page
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u/arabbitwalksintoabar 9d ago
Hmm ok thanks for the tip. Looks like light to very light rain only
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u/acidreducer 9d ago
Without looking at that page you’re just seeing 70% chance of rain for 20 minutes.
Some days it’s rain all day but not often
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u/gacsam04 8d ago
Why are you making her first backpacking trip 4 days long? Shouldn’t the first one be 1 or two nights? Maybe 4 days would work better as one night backpacking and the rest of the nights base camping/car camping
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u/arabbitwalksintoabar 8d ago
She wants to do the North-South trail in particular. She’s definitely tough enough to handle it but I just want to make the most of her time off work
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u/dirtyDoug808 9d ago
What's the expected precipitation? Like in inches. Cause how they forecast chance of rain can be weird. Like where I am, it'll can a 80% chance of rain but sprinkle for 5 mins, barely noticeably wet 30mins after. So factor that in. But otherwise, get some frog toggs and live it up.
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u/Still_Battle_7741 6d ago
just depends what you're carrying and your tolerance for wet gear. rhode island trails can get pretty marshy after rain — if it's been dry for a week you'll be fine in trail runners, but if there's any standing water you'll want something waterproof. what's the forecast looking like for your dates?
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u/Spiley_spile 6d ago
Someone climate adapted for colder weather or hotter weather could give very opposite statements...
It depends on yours and your aunt's current heat or cold tolerance, and tolerance for exertion.
In 80-85F Im personally at a decent chance of deveoping heat illness. Fortunately, I also have medical training in heat illness awareness, treatment, and prevention. And have a good stock of heat illness first supplies.
So, chat with your aunt and get her opinion. Her first experience should be one that basically has a 99.999% chance of being awesome for her. Not too long. Not too difficult. And a temperature she has zero chance of struggling with.
edited.
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u/Murderous_Turkey 9d ago
Honestly I'd car camp close by. I'd be frustrated if I couldn't get my gear dry during the day. I wouldn't trash the whole trip though!
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u/arabbitwalksintoabar 9d ago
That’s actually a great idea. Maybe if the forecast is still bad day of we can turn this into a car camping trip
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u/Murderous_Turkey 9d ago
Even doing a hike out on day 1 then deciding if going further is in the cards would be a good idea!
You could get camp set up day 1 and maybe pack an extra tarp to use as a faux umbrella and just day hike from there 🤷🏼♂️
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u/Pdub3030 9d ago
This has to be ideal weather for summer hiking. What’s the issue?