Written by Of course, the first step to dealing with bad weather when backpacking is to avoid it altogether by checking the weather before you head out on your adventure – making sure that there is no gloom and doom predicted for the time and place of your journey! But if you have taken a few backpacking trips of your own, you also know that you can check the weather and go when you are supposed to be just fine, and can still end up getting hit with bad weather - which is why you should always know exactly what to do in order to deal with bad weather when it hits.
When you get hit by a bad rainstorm while backpacking, the part that is really bad is the fact that you and your gear can end up getting wet and not drying out for the rest of the trip, so the most important thing is making sure you have a waterproof cover for your backpack and a good rain jacket for yourself.
If it appears the storm is about to get really bad, you should also think about setting up camp, because no matter how “waterproof” you and your stuff are, you can still end up getting wet. When you set up camp when it is raining, be very aware of where you are setting up, as you will not want to put yourself in an area that might be prone to flash floods should the bad weather continue.
And perhaps the biggest key to dealing with bad weather is to remember that you took the backpacking adventure because you wanted to have fun, and getting angry about the weather is not going to change it, so you may as well enjoy it! When you take on unexpected bad weather with waterproof gear and a “waterproof” disposition, you will find that dealing with bad weather is a whole lot easier, but you will also find that dealing with bad weather can even be fun!
