A Lesson Learned is a Lesson Earned

I've mentioned this before...you have to know your limitations in camping. What is going to make the camping experience awesome for you, and what is not?

I'd like to discuss a subject that strikes trepidation in all campers...RAIN! Yes, good ol' rain is the source of life, but it is the misery of camping trips. Maybe there are some campers out there who actually do love camping in the rain, but I haven't met any yet.

We've experience rain before. In fact, we experienced rain for the first two nights on our very first camping trip. It was annoying and kept us inside the tent instead of by the fire. The noise freaked my kids out, but that is nothing that a little movie night in the tent can't fix! We also learned that it's nice to have a city nearby to retreat to during the day to stay dry.

When we first arrived in the White Mountains, we knew that rain was expected all week. ALL WEEK. Since our vacation time was not flexible, we went anyway.  We arrived under gray skies, and we hurried to get everything set-up in case it started to suddenly rain.

It was clear from the ground that it had not rained in a while, so maybe we would be lucky.




Ahhhh...our peaceful little spot on the Lost River that winds through the campground (we had camped here once before). It was a gentle stream that was just high enough to play in and not worry that the kids would get carried away downstream with the current. They spent hours just playing in the river.

 After getting the tent and kitchen area set-up, we even got a few moments of sunlight peeping through the clouds. Maybe the storm had changed directions. Without wi-fi, it was hard to know.

                     Does everyone in my family wear strange things on their head? Ummm...yes.

 On day three, the rain came and made good on its promise to shower us with its many blessings. It pelted down hard on the rain fly. Since we had already seen our tent hold up in strong rain, I wasn't very concerned. HaHaHa. Mother Nature always wins.

The floor felt kind of damp to me, but it was hard to tell with so much humidity. So, we zipped up and tried to get to sleep. The rain hitting the tent was so loud that no one was able to get into deep sleep. I felt angry, disappointed, and defeated.

While we were sleeping, I couldn't figure out why the river was so loud, and then I stepped outside the next morning. The water was rushing with twice the amount of water! Almost all of the rocks were now under water.Yikes!

This picture may look gentle, but it was a strong current, and there was no way that I was going to let my kids play in that! Not that they asked. It frightened them also.

I decided to go to the campground office to ask about the flooding possibility and to see if they had any cabins (just in case). There was only 1 available and for that night only.

We were left with no options other than to try and dry out our tent and figure out how to prevent the same thing from happening that night.

(Picture of a site where the campers packed up and left.)

We realized that our tent, while beautifully located next to the river, was slightly on the decline. We moved the tent and kitchen area around so that the tent would be on the highest ground. We also noticed a tear in the ground cover under our tent. It wasn't huge, but I'm sure it contributed to the rain infiltration. Duct tape really does fix everything. Too bad I didn't bring any!

Another camper told us about digging a trench around our tent to divert the water away from our tent.

By the evening's end, we had put in a lot of work, and I was dirty, wet, and tired. I wanted a dry place that was quiet. My voice was strained from having to speak over the sound of the still raging river. Our tent was safely perched on higher ground, but it's was drizzling, and a campfire was not in order.

So, we went to the camp office to book the cabin. It was rustic, but it had a real roof, with electricity and a fan. Most importantly, it was dry. This camping trip didn't meet my expectations, but I learned something important. If it says it's going to rain, then it probably will, AND we don't like camping in the rain. That's when it's time to consider a Plan B. And if it happens to us again, that is exactly what we'll do.