Leaving for bwca tomorrow. Forecast has rain for all but one day now next week. Very discouraging. Last year it rained all week as well.
What do you do when the forecast is rain most the days you are going to be there?
Mike

Bring an extra tarp and maybe do a little basecamping. A couple good books too.

I remember a solo where it rained most every day for 8 nights. It wasn't fun but I savored the time when the sun was out. Keep your feet dry.

You never know what you'll actually get. A lot of times it's not as bad out there as predicted and predictions can change quickly - sometimes for the better. Remember a 50% chance of rain is a 50% chance of no rain. Occasional showers and light rain aren't that bad most of the time. Adjust plans as necessary. Take a little extra clothing, stay dry, keep your rain gear handy and put on right away - don't wait until you're already wet. Remember that what you wear underneath the rain gear is important too. I've been pretty lucky with the weather, but have had a couple of trips that weren't. I travel so far that I'm pretty much committed. It adds another variable to be aware of when selecting a site and tent pad. If it's raining and your tent is free standing, set up your tarp (hopefully pre-rigged for quick deployment) first and set up your tent underneath, then move it. Good luck! Yeah, sitting there under the tarp can be boring, but being bored can be a novel and interesting experience!

Tough call. There was a time I would assure good rain gear and go on with the trip, but as I age that really isn't so much fun. A gentle warm rain, sure. But this time of year not so good a deal as it really can get cold.
I can "camp out" at any local park or even my yard and read a book under the tarp. I go to the BWCA or other wilderness to see it, to travel and enjoy. While the animals still get out so sitting around camp is not like at home and going for a hike is still an option, it just isn't the same.
And being old and part time self employed I can schedule and reschedule on short notice. I would stay home and watch the weather patterns. I also realize most folks can not do that so do what you must. Cold and wet are not fun nor good for you so take good gear and make the best of it if you must go now. Not going is not an option.

quote boonie: "You never know what you'll actually get. A lot of times it's not as bad out there as predicted and predictions can change quickly - sometimes for the better.
"

What Boonie said. Bring some good rain gear, an insulating layer, stay dry as best you can and do everything you would normally do. Or, a good opportunity to stop, slow down, reflect and melt into the wilderness. It's all good.

Some options:

- cancel
- reschedule
- shorten trip
- drive up and stay at one of the various entry point of forest service campgrounds and daytrip part of the time.
- drive up and stay at state park campground or hotel and sightsee part of the time.

You have flexibility this time of year, and because you are solo, and because the weather is bad. Like boonie says, there will be windows of ok weather even in a bad week that you can take advantage of.

quote bhouse46: "Tough call. There was a time I would assure good rain gear and go on with the trip, but as I age that really isn't so much fun. A gentle warm rain, sure. But this time of year not so good a deal as it really can get cold.
I can "camp out" at any local park or even my yard and read a book under the tarp. I go to the BWCA or other wilderness to see it, to travel and enjoy. While the animals still get out so sitting around camp is not like at home and going for a hike is still an option, it just isn't the same.
And being old and part time self employed I can schedule and reschedule on short notice. I would stay home and watch the weather patterns. I also realize most folks can not do that so do what you must. Cold and wet are not fun nor good for you so take good gear and make the best of it if you must go now. Not going is not an option. "

I completely agree. I did many a fishing openers and went no matter what the forecast was betting they were wrong. Rain is one thing, wind and rain is another. May weather systems are never fun. Unlike June storms that are associated with frontal passages, May storms can be 3 to 5 day events with driving rain and even some ice and snow. Make sure you look at the wind forecast, if that is bad you might want to rethink. These days, the 10 day forecasts are pretty good. I too have a lot more flexibility and will cancel or alter my plans around the forecast. I spent many a miserable days under a tarp. On the flip side, these are some of the most memorable trips. I have no regrets having taken them.....when I was much younger. :-)

I had my tarp rigged over the sitting area at a site and I piled my gear under it and put an old poncho over the pile. It rained all night and I thought I was good until next morning when I saw my gear sitting in 3 inches of water. Watch out for low spots!

Just to clarify I never meant I'd cancel. Just wondering what some of you do when day after day it rains? By the way, we are at the des moine Perkins half way spot to Wisconsin.
Thanks
Mike

quote Whatsit: "Just to clarify I never meant I'd cancel. Just wondering what some of you do when day after day it rains? By the way, we are at the des moine Perkins half way spot to Wisconsin.
Thanks
Mike"

Split the trip into two halves. Take a break in the middle to visit the laundromat/dryer. Drive around with the heat on high and tent spread our all over the car seats to dry it out.

Bring a cheap full size umbrella. If you base camp it will give you good mobility around camp. If you decide to travel, it gives you a way to stand next to the fire (assuming you can start one) and dry out your clothes and raincoat somewhat. I bring a 3x2 cutout section of one of those cheap blue tarps to sit on, stand on, or put gear on for when the ground under the tarp fets wet.

Bring Sangean AM/FM/Weather radio.

Glad you took the no option and are headed in. Perhaps this will arrive too late for your reception, but glad you are going anyway. Weather looks like it is letting up to showers from rain and warming up with SUN on Wednesday.
I have slept in the back of the truck in the EP parking lot hoping for some let up in the wind and rain and done short day trips under similar conditions. Be flexible, a few changes in plans can make a trip much better.
And anyone passing through Des Moines and wanting to stop let me know, private email would be best. Always willing to buy a coffee for a fellow Moose.

Thanks all!
In Wisconsin at wife's sisters house. Planning on leaving around 9 this morning for ely. The forecast looks a lot better. My old friend in Tulsa Oklahoma said stop looking at the weather forecast. I'll take that advise from now on :-)
Like old Winston Churchill once said "Never give up, never never never never give up"
I'm sticking with it. But if it is rainy and cold tomorrow morning I may be basecamping sooner then I had originally hoped
Thanks all
Mike

Have a good trip!

My last solo trip was out of Sawbill with a goal of making it to Frost.

At 5 a.m. I started, it was sprinkling, and I actually said outloud to my dog, "this is kind of nice."

Then it got sporty. By the time I got through Ada and Cherokee Creek it got a little more serious. I stopped at a site on the west side of Cherokee, but it was horrible.

Against better judgment, I loaded up and went to the next site, a peninsula site, and set up the tent. I should not have moved on at all, but it worked out thankfully.

Set my tent up in a brief lull in the rain, but it started raining again. I had gear on and was sitting at the big rock at the site about 10 feet from the water. After a while, my dog, a blue heeler, the most loyal of dogs, said "put me in the tent, I'm done."

Sat in the rain for a few more hours watching the storm. Someone I could see across the lake at a camp site was doing the same thing. We bonded over a wave and shared misery,

Long story short, still better than work.

I just out of the Q last week and had rain/cold, windy days most of the time. I basecamped Tuck out of necessity which was fine. I found the best campsite I could on the lake and just relaxed under my tarp or slept in my tent. In between squalls, I fished or explored the island.

I too spent last week in the Q. Stayed an extra day on Ted- mostly drinking coffee, reading and watching water fall into the water. The clouds got lower and lower and by dusk merged with the lake.

The next day I paddled and portaged through wind and rain. The land is beautiful in the rain. I am thankful for Merino wool and modern tents.

Don't end up looking like this.

Probably too late to help Whatsit, but for anyone else...

I too just finished a week in the BWCA and it was very rainy, windy, and cold. My notes for similar trips focus on more fuel for my stove (this was first time ever not building a single fire so I almost ran out), and simplifying meals. It was a hard week, but it is still magnificent and beautiful out there.

quote bhouse46: "Glad you took the no option and are headed in. Perhaps this will arrive too late for your reception, but glad you are going anyway. Weather looks like it is letting up to showers from rain and warming up with SUN on Wednesday.
I have slept in the back of the truck in the EP parking lot hoping for some let up in the wind and rain and done short day trips under similar conditions. Be flexible, a few changes in plans can make a trip much better.
And anyone passing through Des Moines and wanting to stop let me know, private email would be best. Always willing to buy a coffee for a fellow Moose."

Ben I'm leaving in a few hours with a group of 17 scouters. Where do you want us to pitch our tents? Probably be there around 1:00 or 2:00 AM. LOL

Property to my west is currently vacant and the yard was just mowed, probably big enough and wilderness latrines for guys available. :-)

When it rains I tend to paddle slower but longer. The rain, absent wind, is beautiful to paddle in. I find if I take it easy and paddle longer the rain is almost something to enjoy. Not so if it is also windy or cold.
If the forecast is for lots of rain I also pack a larger tarp to give myself a little more room to move around in.
In camp I set up my tarp just over the door of the tent so I never have to leave my dry space. I look at maps, have cocktail hour, smoke a cigar and read a book. And then I just stare at the lake and breathe in the beauty till bed.

We have a large 20 feet tarp for the center of camp just for these circumstances. First thing we set up is that tarp and the chairs, cooking gear and food all go under it. We use hammocks so there is no problem with pooling water or tracking mud into the tent.

That said, the worst trip we took it rained hard paddling in. There was only 1 camp site left (kawishiwi River) and we had to take that.. . .was on a peninsula and the wind was wicked. It rained all the first day, that night, the second day. After two solid days of rain the guys could take it no longer and got out to fish. The small mouth starting hitting as fast as we could put in our lines. Then the sun broke and the third day we were catching all the fish we could handle.

Turned out to be one of our better trips.

Just did two trips total ten days, had a few sprinkles the last day of the first trip and on the second trip rained just a few hours the third day, put the ccs trap up and , never got wet, perfect weather even the bugs weren't bad, never used a net or bug spray, done till fall now.

quote Whatsit: "Leaving for bwca tomorrow. Forecast has rain for all but one day now next week. Very discouraging. Last year it rained all week as well.
What do you do when the forecast is rain most the days you are going to be there?
Mike"

How did the trip turn out, Mike? Did the weather turn to your favor or did you get rain and cold?

Alan

Extra tarps, including a small one for the latrine:)