Metter Part 4

There was higher ground about fifty feet away from my tent, so that's where I placed my backpack and camera bag before returning to the tent to fetch my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and various other items I remove from my pack each night when I sleep. (Keep in mind, it was still raining steadily, so even though I was moving everything to higher ground, out of the new pond, it was all still getting very wet.) --> Instead of setting the remaining items near the backpack, I carried them about 200 feet to the on-ramp, above the bowl, where there was little standing water. I then returned to grab the backpack and camera bag, carrying them to the on-ramp pile. --> Even though I'd now moved most of my stuff fully out of standing water, leaving a few things behind inside the tent/lake, I was deep in the midst of a serious "Oh Fuck!" moment because most everything, including myself and my
clothes, was thoroughly drenched and I was nowhere near anything that could shelter me from the rain...

Metter Part 4

There was higher ground about fifty feet away from my tent, so that's where I placed my backpack and camera bag before returning to the tent to fetch my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and various other items I remove from my pack each night when I sleep. (Keep in mind, it was still raining steadily, so even though I was moving everything to higher ground, out of the new pond, it was all still getting very wet.) --> Instead of setting the remaining items near the backpack, I carried them about 200 feet to the on-ramp, above the bowl, where there was little standing water. I then returned to grab the backpack and camera bag, carrying them to the on-ramp pile. --> Even though I'd now moved most of my stuff fully out of standing water, leaving a few things behind inside the tent/lake, I was deep in the midst of a serious "Oh Fuck!" moment because most everything, including myself and my
clothes, was thoroughly drenched and I was nowhere near anything that could shelter me from the rain...

Metter Part 3

Only a few minutes after making the assessment that I was in OK shape, I looked out the tent door into the vestibule, where I'd left my boots and tripod. It looked as if the tripod was pretty much submerged, and my boots were kinda floating. Time for reassessment! --> I was now a little worried, but I still thought I was OK because it looked like the tripod had been in an anomalous rut, while most of my tent was safely adjacent to the rut. However, when I reached outside to move the tripod, the "levee broke," causing a lot of water to enter the tent. --> At this point I knew I was pretty screwed. Wearing only a shirt and underwear, I reached for my jeans, which were already well on their way to being soaked. I also grabbed my phone and camera bag as I stumbled out of the tent, trying to put on my jeans. --> I didn't know what to do, so I slung the camera bag on my shoulder and pulled my
backpack out of the tent before looking for higher ground nearby, where I could place the stuff...

Metter Part 2

On the way back toward the interstate from downtown Metter Wednesday night, it began raining lightly; more like a mist than a true rain. It felt like the kind of precipitation that would pass within a couple hours, so I wasn't worried. After walking through the mist for about a mile, I'd reached the interstate once again, where I quickly found a spot between the on-ramp and the roadway to set up camp. The area between the ramp and road is much like a bowl, but I felt pretty sure that I'd found a high enough spot for safe camping. Good thing, too, because a steady rain began just as I finished setting up. --> I got to sleep pretty easily at about 12:30, then woke up at about 4:00, quickly noticing the continuing rain and a shallow pool of water beneath the tent. No worry, though, because the tub-shaped floor of my tent protects up to at least a few inches on each side. It seemed my only
real problem was dealing with the cold water under the tent, which really didn't bother me, anyway...