Hello Everyone,

I made it to Camp 2, which is right at the entrance of Collins State Park, but on National Forest land.

I trekked 14.58 miles today and it is was a little challenging all day due to the weather. It rain most of the night and stopped around seven and the tent and Wheelie cover were pretty wet. I wasn’t sure if it would rain again as the sky was fairly dark and overcast, and I could smell the rain.

I wiped down and dried everything as much as possible and packed some of it fairly wet. I didn’t hit the road until after 10:30 and had on all my waterproof Gortex gear. Even though it stayed between 50 and 55 degrees most of the day I found myself overheating and sweating quite a bit. Even though the Gortex is breathable, it still does not transfer all the heat and moisture, especially pulling the Wheelie. Wow, I was drenched.

I ended up taking everything off, and of course as soon as I did that, it began to rain. I tried standing under trees at times when it didn’t appear that it would rain much, and then of course it rain a lot and I put my gear on. That was kind of how my whole day went and therefore a short distance day.

The scenery was great as you can see from some of the photos. You can camp just about anywhere since most of the area is Forest Service land. I decided to stay at the state campground but changed my mind when I realized I’d have to walk in over a mile. Heck, who wants to walk that far? They’d have to be crazy! Besides, cheapskate me, I didn’t want to pay to camp!

Just as I turned around at the entrance a State Park ranger pulled up and had a nice conversation with me. He didn’t blame me for not wanting to stay there and just told me to camp right there as it was Forest Service land. The water faucet was 100′ away. So there I set up. And not more than ten minutes after setting up, it started to rain.

I always look forward to crawling into my tent and bag after a long hard day, and with it raining it is even more cozy. I just hope it stops in the morning.

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll send out an update. Please keep those positive thoughts and prayers going my way,
Ted