Eye of the Storm
Backpacker|May - June 2021
Foul-weather backcountry days have an allure all their own.
By Kristin Smith
Eye of the Storm

It’s 4 a.m. in Vesper Basin, deep in Washington’s Cascades, and I’m building a dam out of twigs.

The rain started two days ago; not with a roar but rather a slow drumming, wrapping the world in fog until even the near edge of the cirque vanished. Our tarp-tent made a good effort for the first 45 hours, but now the soil is saturated, and tiny rivers are snaking under our sleeping pads. Hence the twig dam.

This story is from the May - June 2021 edition of Backpacker.

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This story is from the May - June 2021 edition of Backpacker.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.