making the most of a light rain
Posted by Zonie on January 08, 2024 at 01:25:35
As a cold rain was expected, I dressed in a manner I hadn't in years--I wore thermal underwear. Apart from that I wore BDU trousers, a flannel shirt and a hoodie. Deer Valley Airport, close to the Reach 11 Recreation Area had 0.35" of rain today, and the temperature range during my hike was 39°F to 47°F. It was all liquid. I didn't encounter any snow or graupel.
I had some variables in the planning of my day. Ten years ago Dr. Ceranski wasn't reluctant to climb in rain, but now that he's 86, he sometimes cancels if rain is likely, as he worries about slippery rocks. I wasn't sure what his intentions were. Since it hadn't started raining yet, he was fine with climbing, so we did our usual climb at 8 AM.
When I left his house, I noticed that it was raining, so, not knowing how long it would last, I figured I should drive to Reach 11 immediately. I usually breakfast after our climb, but it occurred to me that I had an MRE in the trunk of my car that was nearing the end of its shelf-life anyway, so I would eat that during my hike.
I found the area wasn't quite completely deserted. I was passed by a mountain bicyclist and a jogger going side-by-side. I assume they were a married couple. It would be a few hours before I saw anyone else there.
A light rain continued to fall, but it wasn't muddy yet, so after a time I found a mound, sat down, and ate my MRE, as the rain soaked my BDUs. When I got up, my boots slid on the ground. It was starting to get muddy. I headed back to the trail. I found only one small mud puddle, but areas of the trail were sticking to my boots and yielding under them agreeably.
I continued westward to the HWY 51 overpass, and there I found a good, long mud puddle from the rainwater from the freeway overhead draining onto the heavy clay soil. It hadn't had a lot of time to soak in, but I turned it up a fair amount.
I continued yet further to the HWY 101 bridge, and by then the rain stopped, so I decided to turn back. I played some more in the mud puddle under the HWY 51 bridge, which had grown larger. I then explored the mesquite thicket for a while.
I headed back on a more northerly course, and soon the sun was shining. My opportunity was not quite gone, however. I was surprised to see a fairly large mud puddle beside the trail, but I soon figured out why it was there. It was draining the parking lot of the equestrian center. I churned that up for a while. I also tried to create a drainage across the trail, but it was too daunting a task without my camp shovel. I did get it started with my boots and my walking staff though.
Eventually I got back to the trailhead parking lot. There had been no mud puddle beside it when I left, but by my return there were several, and I had fun stomping those. As I was about to leave, I noticed there were some promising dark clouds in the northwestern sky, but I was rather fatigued for impromptu storm chasing. I could only hope it dumped enough rain on the state trust land to the north for me to enjoy more mud play there next weekend.