How to Make the Most of Soggy Tent Camping

Remember our visit to Cherry Springs State Park in Western Pennsylvania that I spoke about in my Star Gazing in Pennsylvania blog post? The campsite reservations didn’t stick and we needed to stay at a motel.

Well this year we started in January and booked a “rustic” tent camping site at Cherry Springs to be sure to find space during the new moon phase in August. The new moon is when the moon’s light is absent in the night sky. We took two nights in case it rained one of the nights, like it did last time.

Well…it rained all right. In fact, it stormed. Both nights. We’ve had a very wet summer here on the Eastern side of the U.S. And we forgot that August is in hurricane season. Even though we were in the mountains, tent camping, the far-reaching bands of rain found us.

We drove through the clouds in the mountains and stopped by the park ranger’s office, hoping the rain would let up a little before we checked in. It didn’t. The park ranger met us at the car. She stood there, looking like a drowned bear. We told her we had a reservation and she told us to just go to the site. There were other campers already set up.

Luckily, it stopped raining for maybe an hour, and we set up our tent and threw in our sleeping bags and clothing and supplies. Everything felt damp. We forgot our pillows at home. The non-flush toilets—otherwise known as pit toilets—were down a slight grade from our tent.

There is no electricity in this camping area. Huddled inside our tent, we looked at our weather app to see when we might be able to cook dinner. The other campers had canopies over their picnic table. Our screen tent from camping with five kids shredded long ago. We cooked a fast dinner on our little camp BBQ stove between rain storms. We ate at 4 p.m. I snapped a quick photo of the star-viewing field before it started raining again. 

Since I couldn’t settle to sleep in the damp tent without my pillow, I listened to the rain all night, talking to God, trying to remain positive for the next evening’s star viewing. Our tent kept us dry because of the rainfly, the tarp-like cover that goes over the tent. But in our pup tent, the rainfly didn’t allow for any screens to be opened for air current.

The next day, the rain had stopped, but the thick-packed clouds shrouded the sky just above the trees. I tried to gain access to one of the observatory rooms again. It didn’t really matter. We wouldn’t be able to see past all the clouds to find any stars.

Well, the threat of rain never stopped us from hiking before, so we donned our raincoats and hiked the Cherry Springs Working Forest Interpretive Trail. A forest holds many surprises for adventurous hikers who go out when it’s damp or foggy.

All we need do is look closely at our environment to discover interesting forest visitors.

Yes, our entire tent camping trip was cloud-packed and rainy, but we survived. True! We couldn’t wait to get to our dry, air-conditioned home with its nice, soft bed and flush toilets. But we made the most of our visit to Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania.

We chatted with other campers who were trying to survive the rain as well. We took drives in the countryside, bought ice cream at a local creamery, shared a meal with the locals at a small diner, and tried to see past the clouds at overlooks. Even in the evening, when the rain stopped, I went to the viewing field and lifted my face to the clouds. I envisioned what was beyond and thanked God for it.

How about you? Do you allow the rain to spoil your trip? Or do you look for the light in damp moments? Please share any thoughts you may have in the comments. Thanks for visiting! And enjoy your adventures.