9 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
Rainy rainy day down the Clackamas. Felt guilty for not hiking last weekend so I thought I would head out and brave the rain for some solitude on the trail. Had originally planned on tackling Mount Defiance, but the thought of coming down something so steep in the rain just didn't sound safe. Especially not knowing how the gorge fire has affected the trail.
The nice thing about hiking on rainy days... you find out what gear is failing. I wore my summer mountaineering boots I'm still trying to break in, with gaiters and rain gear and still managed to come off the trail with soaking wet feet. My partner got quite grumpy and wet, and refused to hike further so we turned around just before reaching Pup Creek Falls. It truly was just one of those days where no matter the gear, wading through waist high foliage is going to soak through and get you wet no matter what.
My dog is happily snoozing away on the couch now that she is dry, so the effort of the day was not wasted. The Clackamas River is still a gorgeous hike, even with wet feet.
