Weather can make or break an adventure. Spectacular weather can give you views like you've never seen. The right temperature keeps you cool while you climb. On the flip side, terrible weather can turn a great trail into a miserable day or make you want to stay home on the couch.
But in the Northwest if you don't go even when the weather's lousy you wind up not going at all. Gear helps, but more than gear you need to adopt the right attitude.
Most days on the mountain the rain is falling and the wind is blowing. The days of wearing anything other than waterproof footwear are few and far between. It's mud, snow, or water running down the trail. Sometimes it's all three.
On this trip we got a little of every type of weather. Down low it rained. Higher the rain was snow. The wind blew everything sideways and filled the north side of the ridge with fog. Just to confuse matters, we also had blue skies.
So just remember that no matter how bad you think the weather is where you are right now, it could be worse.
