Old Rag

Last week I went camping with some friends in shenandoah national park. I haven't been camping in at least 10 years, but I really enjoyed it. On friday evening we hiked old rag. The rocks at the top were a blast. If there hadn't been cloudy, we were going to do some stargazing before coming down. Hiking down the mountain in the dark was quite challenging.

On Saturday, we did a 16 mile hike along the Appalachian Trail. It rained all day, but it was still fun. One of the side trails we took went up a mountain. Because the climb up was much longer than it looked on the map, we didn't get back to camp until about 9. I don't think that I've ever been so cold and wet on a hike before, but I still had a great time.

I'm gradually buying gear for a backpacking trip later this fall. I went to a used gear sale at REI yesterday. Since they let people return stuff for any reason, they have lots of slightly used gear to sell off. I got a pair of gore-tex hiking boots for $12 and a medium size internal frame pack for $50. I think they had some great deals on backpacking tents too. Unfortunately, they didn't have any good rain gear. I wish somebody had told me about this sale when I was a scout.