4.8.12 - So maybe we won't camp in the wind again

Wow, what a windy night! At the early morning hours, I woke up to the rear of my tent leaning down and the side flapping into me as the wind howled and surged. At 3am, Tarzan woke up, got out of his tent and turned it to face into the wind. I tried to ignore the flapping as much as possible, but around 6:20am, I finally got out and used one of my trekking poles to support the tent from the wind's force. This did the trick. When I got out of my tent to evaluate the situation, I half expected to see a guy line or a strap from the tent snapped or ripped away from the tent material, but all was good. We all thought the wind may have damaged our tents somehow, but were all surprised and happy to see that they were as good as new! Big Agnes fought the gale force winds, and won the battle! Props to lightweight and durable products!

Easter sunrise was a good one from our spot, but it was so dang windy and cold that it was tough to enjoy. Normally our morning routine involves packing things carefully and putting them in their places so our bags are packed right, but today was different. We threw all our gear in our bags carelessly, and got the heck off of Big Bald! Without any breakfast down the hatch, and being cold and tired, the windy walk down out of the blowing was tough. Finally got into a wooded area and out of the wind. About a mile later made it to a shelter where we ate breakfast and repacked.

14 mile day total when all was said and done.

At one of the gaps around noon, we noticed colored eggs hidden in spots along the trail. I hear someone moving and told Tarzan that I thought I heard the Easter bunny ahead on the trail. It really ended up being a hiker from New Zealand named Hurricane who was over by a styrofoam cooler of TRAIL MAGIC!!!!! A bag of fruit hanging over the trail, soda, Yuengling and PBR, large crunch bars, starburst, and a few other candies all on ice! Haaaaaapppppy Easter!