Ok so let's be honest, we are spoiled rotten in Southern California. I know there are other beautiful places to visit (trust me I've seen them), but nothing beats 75 degrees and sunny standing on the beach in the middle of February. I'm not trying to brag, I consider myself one lucky girl to live in such an amazing place, but hands down we have the best weather in the world. Well normally.
Now I know if you are sitting in some freezing cold corner of the world you are going to be judging me while reading this entire post. After all, what's a little rain in comparison to 14 inches of snowfall in a single night as a blizzard was passing through. And I commend you for being tough enough to survive. Somehow when you live in a cold and dark place you learn how to cope with it. Welcome to living in the Netherlands during their coldest winter they had experienced in 28 years (how I managed that timing is beyond me) but really, have you ever played ice hockey on a frozen pond? ...because I have. And I will tell you it has to be freeze your a$$ off cold for a pond to be frozen enough to skate on. What I'm getting at is that I can totally relate to surviving in cold weather, it's not that big a deal, you get used to it. Stop complaining you California pussies.
In our defense though, when you are sitting a million miles away on the opposite side of the planet where winter is filled with sunshine and smiles, braving the cold takes a lot more courage. Clouds are scary and rain, well... rain seems like the end of the world.
Fast forward to present day Southern California winter, we're smack dab in the middle of what is being called the most EPIC El Nino in history. It's been really tough. During one day in January I remember how bad the weather was because my puppy was having none of it. On that day he just sat and cried when I took him out to pee. He can be one stubborn puppy, he sat there with his head droopy, he whimpered and he refused to pee in the rain, he went promptly after we got back inside though. It was a really hard day as you can tell. Even my puppy was not happy about this El Nino business. Other than that though, I have to be honest, this heavy Crazy El Nino season has been disguising itself as a lovely second summer.
That is until yesterday. Normally when this kind of weather presents itself I'd brew up a nice hot cup of chai tea and snuggle up on the couch, space heater blasting, watching the latest episode of the Bachelor, getting my fill of puppy cuddles. Why brave the cold when you can hold off for a day until the sun comes back out. But we had promised an epic 10 mile Anniversary hike with my little sister and her boyfriend. Celebrating 7 years of togetherness, you don't back out on that just because a little rain. We left our house a 6am. It was a 2 hour drive to the trailhead, we were sure the rain would pass.
It poured the entire way to San Diego. We stopped briefly to meet up with our caravan and decided the rain would surely clear up by the time we got up the mountain. The weather report stated differently, but we were confident and we weren't backing down. The drive was filled with thick fog and heavy rain. As we headed up the mountain I watched the thermostat drop in temperature. We arrived at the trailhead, it was 36 degrees and pouring. I stepped outside and deeply regretted that I had not yet purchased my down jacket also that I had left my all weather jacket at home. I was so grateful though that I decided to bring my heavier fleece that morning, more out of convenience than anything else. It happened to be laying on the couch from the other night when I wore it to the dog park at 9:30pm. Luckily the material was somewhat water resistant.
My puppy is not a fan of the rain but he braved it so he could go and hike with his good friend #KODAtheadventuredog. The BF was the most surprising of everyone. He was grinning and bearing it. I expected a lot more complaining. 5 steps into the hike though, "It's not too late to turn back!!" He said it with a joking smile. He was totally serious though. On the inside I really wanted to go home, but you can't turn your back on a 7 year celebration, not because of a little rain. We trekked forward.
Within the first 10 minutes I wished I had worn another pair of pants and a jacket and a poncho with a portable space heater; the rain had completely soaked through all of my clothes. I was so thankful for the waterproof hat underneath the beanie I was wearing, at least it was able to keep my head dry and the rain out of my face. At this point it was no secret that I wanted to turn around, I was shivering and wet, but everyone else kept their spirits up. Hell, the BF and our puppy, who hates rain, were leading the pack. They were 300 ft in front of us and going fast enough to steadily widen the gap.
The wind had picked up noticeably and ripped through my soaking wet clothes, I was beyond ready to turn around but the BF had my keys and my puppy so I kept putting one foot in front of the other. We all made jokes about how this would be the best hike we had been on this year, how the most unfortunate conditions made for the very best stories. I mean Bee was in shorts and hiking with ease. #KODAtheadventuredog was loving life. He was leading and couldn't be happier with this miserable weather. I would say he preferred it, I guess he is originally from ALASKA. #KENAItheridgebackpup looked from 300ft behind as if he was enjoying himself. I mustered a fake smile as my hands went numb. We kept walking.
Finally the leaders stopped to let us catch up. When we got there, #KODAtheadventuredog had a huge grin on his face, then I saw #KENAItheridgebackpup. He was attempting to hide from the rain behind the BF. He was whimpering and shivering ferociously. I gave in "Babe, I want to turn around."
I'll be honest, I was the one who was pushing to grin and bear it from five in the morning before we ever left. It wouldn't be that bad. It's just a little rain, no big deal. Almost 2 miles in though the weather had completely killed my pride. The BF did not hesitate at the opportunity. He was totally drenched and as cold as both the puppy and myself. I felt terrible, 7 years is a lot to turn your back on. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't feel my hands or my feet and I just wanted to get back to the car.
I didn't realize how far we had actually walked though. When we turned around we were walking against the wind, I didn't think it could get worse, but it totally did. Poor #KENAItheridgebackpup had his tail between his legs the entire walk back to the trailhead. He would run forward a bit then wait for us with his head down, crying the whole time. I don't blame him, he is not from ALASKA, actually the opposite in AFRICA. Braving the heat is welcomed by this puppy. The rain is an entirely different story.
Finally we approached the trailhead, the BF hadn't noticed but I knew it was coming and #KENAItheridgebackpup did to. He was off leash and made a sprint for the car. My fur-parent instincts kicked in, the car meant the highway, and the highway meant fast moving vehicles. The BF chased down my puppy and brought him safely to the car. I was sure he would grab the blanket out of the back and try and wipe down some of the mud from the puppy. I guess that didn't happen, When I got to the car the blanket was stowed safely in the back and #KENAItheridgebackpup had already jumped in the car to shake off all the muddy water. Perfect! I wasn't entirely happy about the situation, mostly because I was pretty much numb from the eyes down and didn't want to stand in the rain to try and clean up the mess. I accepted defeat and got in the car.
Despite the heater being on full blast and my seat heater was on high, I continued to shiver along with my puppy. The goal was just to get home and get in a hot shower. Kenai shivered the entire ride back, poor puppy. I tried to hold him close but my body heat may have been at an all time low at that point. I could have rang out a gallon of water from all of our clothes. There wasn't an inch on any of us that had stayed dry. We took a hot shower promptly after arriving home.
My lil sis and the rest of the crew arrived shortly after us. Within an hour if I had to guess. Apparently they had made a few wrong turns and cut the 10 mile hike in half. Ponchos, rain jackets and all, they too were completely soaked through. Tea poured a significant amount of water out of her boot. I've heard of squeaky shoes but I've never actually seen someone pour an entire pitcher of water worth out of their shoe. Of course the sun had decided to show itself by that point. It wasn't a terrible hike but I won't lie, it would have been so much more enjoyable on a day it was not pouring rain and under 40 degrees.
Now, I know what all of you on the other side of the world, living through a horrific winter are thinking-this girl is a wimp for turning around early-you would have stuck it out, you are immune to unpleasant weather conditions and frankly probably a better person than me. The thing is though, in Southern California it doesn't take 6 months to see the sun again, and I've decided that the sun is not overrated. It's really not about not being able to handle the rain or the cold, it's about not wanting to. So although it made for a good story, next time I wake up to pouring rain on the day of a hike, maybe even a 7 year celebration hike, I'll take a RAINCHECK because we can snuggle up, drink chai tea and reminisce about the last 7 years inside next to the fire. Next time we'll do the epic 10 mile celebration hike the next weekend when there's not a cloud in the sky.
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