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Got caught in a sudden hailstorm on the Highline Trail in Glacier last month
Was about 4 miles in near the Granite Park Chalet when the sky just turned dark out of nowhere. No warning on the weather app either. Had to duck under a rock overhang for 45 minutes while golf ball sized ice came down. My pack cover did nothing, everything got soaked. How do you guys prep for unexpected weather on exposed alpine routes?
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wyattc765mo ago
Best move I've found for alpine stuff is carrying a lightweight silnylon tarp (way better than a pack cover) and some extra cord. You can rig it up under an overhang or even just wrap yourself in it like a burrito if there's no cover at all.
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jason5245mo ago
Whoa, hold up. I gotta push back a little on calling a silnylon tarp "way better" than a pack cover. That's not really an apples-to-apples thing in my experience. A pack cover protects your gear from rain and snow and mud when you're hiking or when you set your pack down. A tarp is for making a shelter over your head. They do different jobs. If you're moving fast through alpine terrain and a storm hits, wrapping your pack in a tarp is a pain and it won't keep it dry nearly as well as a dedicated cover. Your mileage may vary of course, but I've seen folks try to use a tarp as a pack liner and end up with soggy sleeping bags. Silnylon tarps are great shelter options, no argument there, but I wouldn't trade a pack cover for one unless I was also carrying a dry bag or something.
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fisher.charlie4mo ago
@wyattc76 you've clearly never tried to burrito-wrap yourself in a tarp while a gust of wind howls through a col at 3am. My buddy did that on Rainier and spent the whole night doing the worm trying to get the cord to stay tight. I'll stick with my pack cover and a separate shelter, thanks. But hey, if you figure out how to keep the tarp from flapping in your face like a wet flag, let me know.
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