5/5: Campsite Y

Hello all,

Wendy here with another update from the trail! Boy was this one fun, we got caught in a serious storm!

The day started out with us parting ways with Breeze's folks and heading up the hill. Because we got such a late start we planned to walk only 5 miles to Vanderventer shelter. interesting fact- a girl was murdered at this shelter in 1975. Apparently a man was staying there and said he wanted her pack. He coveted this gear so much he murdered her for it. Crazy people be crazy!

When we got to the shelter we found it to be quite full and quite small. This was the only excuse we needed to hike on past this creepy shelter! We munched down a quick bite of beef brisket sandwich and headed back out into the rain.

We made it another 4 miles to a campsite before calling it quits for the night. As the weather went from bad to worse we quickly got our tents pitched and got out of the nasty weather. Man did it get bad! Crazy wind gusts and rain made for a tough night to sleep. In addition, condensation got the foot box of my sleeping bag wet!

All in all it was a tough day. Leaving town is never easy and leaving family is even harder. Couple that with our worst storm yet and you have the makings of a fun day! Unfortunately the trail won't hike itself!

Until next time,
Wendy

PS- bonus rant! This goes out once again to anyone that plans on thru hiking one day- don't be cheap on the stuff that matters! I thought I could get away with not paying $100+ for a set of nice trekking poles. Instead, I chose to buy Walmart brand. Do you know where that left me? With 2 ruined sets of Walmart poles! Gear that you will be using all day every day for 2200 miles just has to be made for it. This is no normal backpacking trip we are on!

Do your research and find out where you can afford to go cheap or DIY but when they say spend the money, do it! I broke $50 worth of Walmart gear before having to buy a nice set of Leki poles. They weren't cheap but if anything happens to them, Leki will send me a free replacement pair no questions asked!