Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail

This weekend was the last test for gear and strength for the trail next week. We hiked 12.5 miles to the Ohiopyle shelters and walked back 5 miles the next morning. I felt strong hiking the trail and feel good about my pack weight. I stayed mostly warm in my new -10F sleeping bag, but I'm wondering if I still need to add a sleeping pad with a larger R-value (so the cold from the ground doesn't reach me). And I still haven't learned from the Loyalsock trip to bring an extra set of gloves or just buy some waterproof ones.

Around 4:00 am I woke up to the sound of someone throwing a snowball at my tent every 30 seconds. I realized the 5 inches of snow were melting from the tree branches in large chunks and falling on my tent. I put my headphones in to drown out the noise, but once a very large chunk hit the tent, I feared for the integrity of the DCF material. I got out to see about moving my tent, but the snow was falling everywhere. Because I couldn't sleep, I decided to build the fire in the lean two back up. It was at that point I had to decide between the snowballs hitting my tent or the mice scurrying above my head.

Fun weekend and a solid climb in the morning to test my ability!