Hiking with Umbrellas?

On the way out the door for a hike on Sunday the forecast was for "scattered showers".  I reached for a rain coat just in case.  My wife said I should take an umbrella instead.  I had one in the car, but I took the coat with me.  At the Turkey Trot Trail the sky didn't look that threatening so I took the umbrella and left the raincoat in the car, what the heck, give it a shot.  Out in the woods over by the powerlines it started to sprinkle, then got a little harder, then harder, then it started to rain.  About as far from the car and my rain coat as possible.

But, I had an umbrella, and it worked fine.  My wife is a genius.  Coming down the hill onto the RecPath by Silent Waters I came across another group of hikers with umbrellas.

They too were happily hiking in the rain without getting soaked.  Great minds think alike.

Further along there was a turtle by Silent Waters.  He or she had it's own built-on umbrella, but it didn't seem to mind getting wet.  

The Mountain Laurel were in full flower, and looked better with a little rain and some cloudy weather.

Silent Waters was really pretty this morning.  There were no crowds, and I found out that umbrellas can be a great hiking tool for summer walks.