Am I crazy? No!
There are many things we miss when we decide not to hike because it is yucky outside:
1. Wildlife is abundant.
2. Humans are not abundant (perhaps the reason for wildlife abundance).
3. The smell of the earth. Yum!
4. The pattering sound of the rain hitting leaves and puddles.
5. The color of the atmosphere and landscape
6. Total peace and tranquillity.
If you decide to hike in the rain you will need proper gear: a real raincoat (not a spring jacket) and waterproof hiking boots or rubber boots with traction.
This was the start of my trail. Notice there are a lot of puddles. One trick I found was to walk on the side of the puddle, preferably on the grass or leaf litter. I really didn’t get too dirty.
There is something spectacular about the atmosphere and the color of the landscape on a rainy day. Do you see how the distant trees look blue? What you are actually seeing is light reflecting off water molecules in the air. Believe it or not, the color of grasses and leaves seem brighter on a cloudy day too.
This area had a prescribed burn. Do you know how wonderful it smelled? Oh if I could just bottle it up! Anyway, the earth has a distinct musky smell, and when wet, those aromas are enhanced, and when mixed with ash the aroma is better still.
There were hundreds of robins and grackles hunting on the ground. No exaggeration! The floor was moving with birds! Every time I took 1 step closer, they took 4 hops further away. The noise from the birds was deafening! They were super vocal! I expected that if it were a nice day and pretty crowded with hikers and horses, there may not have been so many birds.
Not only were the birds loud but the frogs were too…thousands of them! I heard a few spring peepers and many, many chorus frogs. I tried for 30 minutes to locate just one tiny frog but could not.
This was my last view of the trail. How beautiful. No frogs here, but bright green grasses lit up the ground.
I love to hike in the rain. The sounds from the rain combined with the wildlife is something to experience. Very precious to me. Try it you will be surprised!
