Date: 2016-02-01
To: Huntsville, TX
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

After all of my gear list planning based on recommendations and research I finally purchased everything and was eager to use it. One of my best friends who has experience hiking with her husband agreed to come on this short trip with me (Shout out to Marta, you are awesome!!). The plan was to camp out Monday night so that we could get an early start the next day and hike the 35 mile route over the week arriving back to our car Friday afternoon. Monday Feb. 1st : We met up at 4:30pm to drop off one of our cars at parking lot #7 in Huntsville and then back tracked to lot #1 where we started our journey. After hiking for about half a mile, we found a place to stay for the night near a pond (not the best source of water but it¢s something) and set up camp. For dinner I made mac and cheese with 1/2 a can of dehydrated chicken and it was delicious.Tuesday Feb. 2nd : We woke up at 7am and hiked out at 9am. We planned on hiking 10 miles but when we got there found out the pond on our map didn't exist and the next guaranteed body of water was Lake Conroe just passed the 16 mile marker. It wasn¢t ideal by any stretch of the imagination especially since Marta¢s pack wasn¢t balanced (which caused shoulder knots) and she felt blisters forming but she trudged on and we made it to the campsite by 5pm. Lake Conroe has never looked better than that moment we got past the woods and entered the clearing to see it¢s glimmering surface. It felt so good to dip my feet in the cold water and eat red beans and rice with dehydrated chicken. Wednesday Feb. 3rd : We woke up at 7:30am and hiked out at 9:30am. While we were a bit slower to get going we stretched and powered through to complete another 9 miles. We took breaks at least every two hours and ate a lot¢¦ seriously I felt like a garbage disposal whereas when we first started I couldn¢t finish the big meals and protein bars I devoured them and wanted more. We found a place to make camp at 3:30pm and took the rest of the day easy which was great since the temperature dropped to the low 30¢s (please remember I¢m from Texas so this is cold haha) and we were prepared and cozy in the tent. Thursday Feb. 4th : We woke up at 7am and hiked out at 8:15am. The saying ¢nut up or shut up,¢ comes to mind. While we¢d initially planned on completing our hike on Friday our extra mileage the first day gave us the push we needed to finish on Thursday and that¢s exactly what we did. We hiked consistently throughout the morning taking short breaks and made it out of the woods by (drum roll please) 12:30pm!!When it was all said and done we hiked 35 miles in 2.5 days and I got to use all of my gear and see how it faired. Results: I love my tent, it is so easy to assemble and light weight. The sawyer mini squeeze got clogged twice and was very frustrating to use as it provided such small amounts of clean water. My pack was very practical and it being a top loader helped me ensure the weight was centered; the only issue was I could not return water bottles to the side pockets while walking without asking for help or removing my pack. Oh and a word to the wise when it comes to toilet paper do not be stringent haha.