Grasshopper Peak

Date:
May 2, 2009

Participants:
Michael (Dad), Patricia (Mom), Rebekah, Daniel, Elisabeth, and Hannah Gent; Jacob Grimm; Chris Panza; Lance Knuth; Betsy and Claire Gross.

“It won’t be so bad. Just make sure you bring plenty of water. After all it is eighteen miles, and we won’t be able to refill anywhere.” “What if it rains?” “Don’t worry, though I’d bring a light poncho if I were you.” After giving advice like that I should have known that it’d dump rain the whole time we were there, but being the eternal optimist I am, (snicker), I still hoped for the best. As day hikes go, this one began pleasantly enough. We left our house not too long after our intended time, and we only had three more people than was comfortable in the van. During the, relatively short, drive to the trailhead I answered several questions about the low hanging rain clouds and mist by replying confidently that I had check the weather and “we were only supposed to get a little light rain in the morning and that it should clear up by noon.”
“They say there are two kinds of fools, weather men and those who believe them.” I guess I must fall in that second category, thought I suppose it’s possible that I was just smothering my doubts to give everyone else more confidence. It’s hard to tell through hindsight. We arrived and began hiking with the only notable moment being when I commented that since it wasn’t raining “it must be clearing up early.” Up until about half way there was little to no moisture, maybe a light mist at most. Around the sixth mile it began raining, not a hard or heavy rain, just a light shower, almost a drizzle, enough to remind us that there were clouds in the sky, and we were walking into them. The problem with a light rain beginning halfway through your walk up a mountain is that by the time you’re at the top it has usually increased to a full blown thunderstorm. Luckily for us the storm had not escalated to thunderstorm level when we reached the top, just a constant heavy rain and a continuous wind that made it seem like the rain was coming up the mountain rather than down from the clouds. I proposed to change our plan from eating lunch at the top to grabbing a quick bite in a glade of trees just under the leeward side of the peak. Everybody agreed so five minutes and a few mouthfuls later we began our decent. About two hours later our group was sitting in the van wet, tired, and sore, but they all indicated that they had had an exciting, if not pleasant time, and that they would be willing to go hiking with us again, provided that it not be raining.
Recommendation:
For a semi strenuous hike, this is great, but we'll probably not do it again in the rain.