It's been raining for 5 days straight. Which wouldn't be so bad, if it wasn't also 40 degrees (max) in the forest. The waterproof stuff I bought after realizing the stuff I brought with me was not, in fact, waterproof, has been failing as well. I guess they don't design this stuff for standing in the rain for 10 hours. I guess they figure sane people seek cover after 1 or 2.
Yesterday was too much for me. It was just above freezing and absolutely pouring. I was soaked to the bone within half an hour. The giddiness that we normally get in such conditions over the ridiculousness of the situation, which is normally good for at least an hour, was gone in about 5 minutes. I could clench my hands into a fists and a small streams of water would run from my gloves. After four hours, I started to second guess whether I could make it the full 10, and on the fifth hour when it started sleeting I told Dave I couldn't take any more and called Chris at the flat to tell him I had to drive home. I've been torn up over this decision for the past 2 days, but I don't regret it because I think I know my limits. And I'm pretty sure I reached them. Dave had better gear (he also hadn't lost his hat in the forest a few days ago like...someone) and was significantly warmer and drier. Still, there's a certain amount of shame that's naturally associated with throwing in the towel, and I haven't been able to shake it off yet.
Dave stayed on to collect a few fecal samples, and I drove to pick him up around 4.30 with a fresh pot of coffee in the passenger seat.
This morning was significantly warmer, but Murphy's law was in full swing. I lost an important focal subject (a jumpy fringe male named George who we hadn't seen in 3 days) after the first 20 minutes when he ran from some other males. Running after a monkey in the rain in the middle of a forest, over rocks and sliding down hills, is a lot of fun, as long as you can keep track of the monkey. My weather station, a little device that we use to get temperature and humidity readings, got waterlogged and broke. The otter box that keeps my palm pilot dry started leaking. I misidentified a focal subject.
To top it all off, the beer shop's been closed for 4 days and we have no idea why.
I feel good, though. Can't say exactly why. But the sun came out for 15 minutes this afternoon before we left, and the monkeys ran up to the tops of the trees into whatever little patches of sunlight they could find and looked down at us as if to say 'we're not moving...you can go'. So we did.
'Tis the season.
Rain in the forecast for tomorrow.
A footnote:
Dave just informed me that as of two days ago we have collected 400 monkey poops. 150 of those are mine.
I know you're all very proud.
Soundtrack: TV On the Radio -- Family Tree
When we were in Big Bend last year, we had the most rainy day they'd seen in ten+ years, though it was somewhat warmer. My rain gear was a very ineffective trash bag, and one guy ended up without a lunch. Our boss had served in the Marines and my crew leader asked him 'T, have you ever been in war? I think this is what war is like.'
ReplyDelete'Yeah...except you have people shooting at you.'
From then on, whenever conditions were miserable, we'd comment that this is what war is like. Then when no one would shoot at us, it was still a good day.
(Hmmm...my story of bad weather is a single rainy day in June. You win.)
Luca -
ReplyDeleteI mentioned this to Dave yesterday, which of course led to us coming up with army personalities for each of the monkeys. I won't get into it (it would make no sense, and I might sound slightly mental) but just wanted to say it kept us entertained for quite a while.
Thanks!