5. Pay Attention To The Weather
Pay attention to the changing weather. For the most part, if you bring raingear and warm clothes, most weather you can probably be prepared for. However, if the weather starts to ramp up into a storm—whether wind, rain, hail/sleet, and/or snow—you may want to think about coming down from the more exposed high country. A storm can be much stronger in the alpine as opposed to downtown at sea-level. And if it’s snow, the mountain peaks and ridges can often see several inches up to feet of snow in a single storm when it is just rain at lower elevations. And though our island is built for lots of rain and sheds it really well, one result is quickly rising rivers and lakes that are fed by mountain runoff, and every once in a while, these bodies of water can flood and mountain landslides can occur. And as can be seen through all the deadfall lying around our forest, BIG trees uproot and fall over, sometimes across the trail. So, keep an eye out.