Bring on the Rain

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. After 3 months of managing to stay relatively dry in Aberdeen, our luck finally ran out. Up until this point, we had either always been prepared with proper rain gear or fortunately planned our hiking excursions on days where the rain held off.

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the temporary sunny skies and get Samson out for a forest walk. We had left him behind on Saturday’s hike, and were feeling just a smidge of parental guilt. As I packed a small bag with water and doggie treats, I asked Jonathan if I should grab our rain jackets, just in case. He looked up at the blue sky and said, “Nope, I think it’ll hold off for the next hour or so.” Flash forward 20 minutes and I am hovered under a tree, seeking shelter during a torrential downpour.

Scotland is known for rain, but sheets of precipitation are actually pretty rare. Normally we will get a persistent drizzle or maybe a soft pitter patter sort of rain, during which a forest is a substantially protective place to be. Countesswells Wood was no match for the rain storm that rolled through on Sunday afternoon, however, and so by the end of the 4 mile hike, we were all three drenched. Jon and I were mildly unhappy about it, but Sam was thrilled and made a point of running through every mud puddle he could find.

Since I knew I was going to have to bathe him either way, I just let him go with it. By the end of the walk, he (and our car) looked like this.

After Sunday’s experience, I feel like we have officially been initiated into Scottish life.

I returned to Countesswells Wood this morning with Bailey, fully equipped with my rain jacket in tow. Of course, because I was prepared, the sun continued to shine throughout our walk, which means I managed to get some really lovely pictures along the way.

And even though the sun was shining, there was still evidence on the trails of the recent downpour, and I managed to get quite muddy all the same.