Got caught in a surprise hailstorm on the Sierra High Route last September

I was hiking the Sierra High Route near the Evolution Basin when clouds rolled in fast. Within 20 minutes, pea-sized hail started coming down hard and I had no cover for miles. My lightweight tent was no match for the wind and I ended up huddling under a rock overhang for 2 hours. That trip made me rethink my whole gear setup for exposed alpine routes. Now I always carry a small emergency bivy even on summer trips. Anyone else had weather totally change their plans on a high route?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylorc409d ago

Hide under the same rock overhang myself a few years back and ended up with a nice muddy runoff shower, so @drewgonzalez you're spot on about those being a gamble. That bivy is a lifesaver on exposed routes, I tested mine in my backyard during a garden hose "storm" and it passed with flying colors. Learned the hard way that "just find a rock" is terrible advice for alpine weather.

drewgonzalez9d ago

Not trying to be difficult here, but did that rock overhang actually keep you dry enough or were you still getting wet from spray and runoff? Because Ive had similar situations where I thought I found shelter and ended up just as soaked from water running down the rock itself. In my experience those overhangs can be tricky, they look safe but the wind whips the rain sideways and you still get hammered. The emergency bivy sounds like a smart move though, I just wonder if you ever tested it out in a backyard storm before taking it on trail.

murphy.abby9d ago

Did you have to ditch any gear to lighten your load after adding that bivy? Honestly, I had a similar thing happen on the JMT near Muir Pass where I got caught in a weird afternoon thunderstorm and my tent poles snapped. Ngl, I ended up using my trekking poles and rain jacket to rig some kind of shelter under a juniper tree, which barely worked but taught me to always bring repair tape.