Site selection and extreme weather

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12XU
Posts: 28
Joined: April 17th, 2012, 10:28 pm

Site selection and extreme weather

Post by 12XU » May 27th, 2012, 10:49 am

Hi there. First post on this forum, I hope I'm not posting in the wrong area of the forum. Please feel free to correct me if I am.
I'm looking for some advice regarding extreme weather and campsite selection.
On Friday, my wife, sister in law, dog, and I headed up to the Siouxon Creek trail near Mt. St. Helens and ended up hiking 4 miles in to camp near the trails' intersection with the Chinook Creek trail.
Beautiful weather all early afternoon. We'd made camp and we're hanging out when a severe thunderstorm moved in, dropping maybe 4" worth of hail, plus lots of other precipitation on us in about 45 minutes. It was definitely the most extreme weather I've ever experienced while camping/backpacking. My wife and sister-in-law had set up on the main flat patch of the site but their was enough of a depression that their site flooded. Once the system passed, we assessed our site, talked to some other nearby campers who decided to leave, and decided that our equipment was sufficiently thrashed that it made better sense to hike out while we still had daylight. We figured it could have been particularly bad if we'd stayed and a second system moved in.

My question is: What could we have done better? There was not really any other suitable spots to set up our second tent when we made camp. Should we have pre-emptively cleared a site that would have allowed water to move beneath the tent? The niceness of the early afternoon certainly gave us some false self-confidence. Any other mistakes we made that we could improve upon? Here's some pictures from Friday, btw.

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Grannyhiker
Posts: 4598
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Gateway to the Columbia Gorge

Re: Site selection and extreme weather

Post by Grannyhiker » May 27th, 2012, 12:07 pm

First of all, it appears that none of the weather forecasters didn't expect either last night's or Friday night's storms, if that makes you feel any better. This one (at least in Troutdale) came from an unexpected direction--the northeast instead of the normal southwest. The street here was brimfull!

One of the problems with having to use "established sites" is that such sites are often concave--as you found out. Unfortunately, both ditching and cutting vegetation are not ethical and usually illegal. Picking up pine cones, sticks and rocks that will be under the tent floor are OK (you can pile them close by and toss them back after you've packed up the tent).

I will go to almost any lengths to avoid setting up in a site that might flood in case of a heavy rain like last night's. That includes sleeping on a hump or a side hill if necessary, even over roots and rocks. I figure that's one of the advantages of having a nice thick cushy insulated air pad! It's also one reason why I try to avoid established sites and find something well off-trail. That isn't always possible on the wet side of the Cascades, though, since everything that isn't "established" is brushy.

Once you flooded, your decision to pack up and leave was a wise one. If this happens when you're too far from the trailhead to hike out, it would have been an occasion for an emergency fire to dry out wet gear (especially sleeping bags) as much as possible before bedtime, or even staying by the fire all night. Of course the wood was soaked, which is why fire starter is one of the "Ten" Essentials, to dry out the tinder so you can get it to burn. That's also why it's a good idea to practice building and maintaining a fire with wet wood!

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Koda
Posts: 3466
Joined: June 5th, 2009, 7:54 am

Re: Site selection and extreme weather

Post by Koda » May 27th, 2012, 12:26 pm

12XU wrote: My question is: What could we have done better? ......The niceness of the early afternoon certainly gave us some false self-confidence.


what was the forecast for overnight?

excellent post based on the uniqueness of the weather last Friday. Perhaps the extreme flash weather event was not really any different than what would have happened over the course of nighttime if say you set up camp in mild rain that would last all night? I'm assuming here, that your tent got flooded out soaking your sleeping bags? ...and the tents survived the hailstorm?

I've had the habit of setting up my bag immediately after pitching camp but after 2 completely rained out trips last couple summers I kept the bag in its compression sac until bed. This has become essential now that I'm using a UL tarp for shelter that is not freestanding (must be completely taken down to move even a few inches).

BTW: Here is a thread about last Fridays storm with excellent photos... http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/vie ... 31&t=11793
lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

12XU
Posts: 28
Joined: April 17th, 2012, 10:28 pm

Re: Site selection and extreme weather

Post by 12XU » May 28th, 2012, 6:03 pm

Hey, thanks for both of your responses. The tents survived the hailstorm, but my wife's tent had maybe 2" of water beneath it and around it immediately following the storm that wasn't going anywhere and there was still a lot of hail on the ground that had yet to melt. Plus, we weren't sure if additional systems might roll through and truly swamp us.
The forecast had looked quite good that morning. Maybe some evening showers but nothing on the scale of what hit.
@Grannyhiker. I think you're right that in the future we should be more aggressive in finding a better site, and I definitely do need some more practice in building wet fires.
@Koda. Keeping our sleeping stuff stored until later in the evening is also probably a good idea.
Thanks!! Hopefully the next time I post on here will be with a good trip report.

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weathercrazy
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Location: Battle Ground, Washington
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Re: Site selection and extreme weather

Post by weathercrazy » May 28th, 2012, 6:22 pm

I knew there was a chance of storms on Friday, but even with that knowledge, I likely wouldn't have told anyone not to go hiking because of it. What ended up happening doesn't happen very often here anyway (thunder is heard on just 7 days a year), let alone the amount of lightning and hail.

There is a model I regularly access and is easy to understand.

Treat this as a forward looking radar:

http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~ovens/ ... cp1+//72/1

It's pretty obvious to see what the forecast is for any precip.

This is what it looked like for that day (notice the local time at upper right in parentheses)
or_pcp3_12_friday.gif
Here is the local radar for the same time, as you can see it wasn't too far off, but every forecast should be taken with a grain of salt.
201205260100.gif
Mark Nelsen talks about it on his website:

http://fox12weather.wordpress.com/2012/ ... unication/

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Grannyhiker
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Gateway to the Columbia Gorge

Re: Site selection and extreme weather

Post by Grannyhiker » May 28th, 2012, 7:51 pm

We really all need to practice backpacking in the rain! http://sectionhiker.com/why-you-should- ... -the-rain/

Although it takes more willpower than when you're already out there and have to cope, backyard (yours or borrowed) camping in the rain is a great way to start learning skills. If you mess up, there's a warm dry bed waiting! It's hard not to yield to temptation, but it is there in case hypothermia threatens.

I'll try to write more about this later; I'm getting sleepy!

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