Solo Backpacking In A Downpour With The Lanshan 2 Pro (plus Seeing My First Bear In YEARS!)

It's the closest I've ever seen wild hogs, I thought the big mama was big. At first I thought it must be a bear up in the woods because I knew it sounded big, it wasn't a deer. Even when I first saw the first little pig's head appear, I was still like, is that a cub? And then I realized it was a pig. That was awesome. I'm scared of them. Yes! That was really exciting. I haven't seen a bear in four years. This trip has proven to be exciting and already worth the 70 something miles for sure. I'm out here on the Benton Mackay Trail doing a little section hike, not the whole shebang because this will also be a section hike of the Eastern Continental Trail or ECT which goes all the way from Key West up through Florida, up through Alabama on the Penhody Trail, then Benton Mackay to the Appalachian Trail, and then past Mount Katahdin through Canada. So basically I'm picking back up at the Penhody Trail Northern Terminus and going southbound on the BMT to get to Springer Mountain, but if I was doing the whole Eastern Continental Trail, then I'm going still northbound on the Eastern Continental Trail. My goal is to eventually stitch together all of these little pieces and complete the ECT. I was looking at my leg and I'm like, what in the world? I would have felt all of this. What was that? And then I realized it was these little turds biting me while I was recording those hogs. And I was so into it, I knew they were tearing me up, but I couldn't care. Binge. Apparently this tree is the place to be. Quite the little hangout here. I think that's a bug blowing. That looks like home sweet home. That's my campsite for the night. Even on a Saturday. Got it all to myself. Man, if a spider would just pull up there for the night, they'd have a whole buffet. I'm already noticing something that I didn't notice when I did my first impressions video. I said you had to pay attention where you put your head because of how the doors opened. But, if you notice, this door opens to the left side there. This door opens to the left side. So, if there were two people in here, then my side right now would be convenient for here. But the other person, if they were laying with their head in the same direction, and the ground is sloped for that right now, that would be really inconvenient for them to have that door. But if you're just solo, it's nice because if you mess up like I did, because actually I would have preferred that to be my head because of the pocket. But if you mess up, then all is not lost. It's not like you're messed up with both doors and the pocket. I feel like I can't really use the pocket. I mean, I could crawl down there and put my sunglasses in it and then crush them later, but not. But at least I have a convenient door. So, I don't know. With two people, I would not love how these doors are at all. But with one person, I mean, it's like a half win right now. This is ridiculousness. So, I'm gonna wear this bonnet because somebody suggested that it might help if I've got allergens, pollen and stuff in my hair to keep my hair off of my face while I'm sleeping. Also, I washed and dried my synthetic sleeping bag and jacket before I came. But I've got clothes. I'm using like a pillow. I've got clothes in a clothes bag. It's got the fuzzy side on it. And if it's Cuban fiber that's bothering me, well, I'm SOL. To elevate my head. And also, my head is on the upslope. And yes, my feet are on my pack, but my sleeping pad is thicker. So, I'm gonna try a few different things tonight and see if I wake up puppy. That was terrible. They talked back though. There is certainly some puppiness, but it's been way worse. Like, unrecognizably worse. I stopped right here to take a pack-off break. And somebody has been hitchhiking, getting themselves a free ride and graffiting my pack. Come on, little dude. I hope you wanted a new home, a ways away from your old one. Thank you. I'm so glad I was a human and not a creature that loved eating turds. I'm all set up and ready for the storm that's supposedly coming tonight. Seam sealed this bad boy before I left the house. And yeah, I know I should have set it up when I did it. But there was a chance of rain, so I just did it in the house. And I know I should have set it up before I left to make sure that everything was properly seam sealed. But I didn't. So, on the inside of this, there's a little cup that is where the trekking pole goes, like it looks like here on the outside. Well, I made sure to seam seal up under the vestibule here, where the trekking pole goes. And I noticed that while I was seam sealing these seams here on the inside of the tent. But what I failed to pay attention to until last night when I was on trail and didn't have my seam sealer, is there's also a stitch here that goes on the inside of the tent. I didn't seam seal that part. So, I even seam sealed these little tie outs here. Got those. Did not do this part. So, I guess we're about to test this tent with some of my seam sealing and then the tent, how it comes from the factory. It's supposed to storm tonight, so I'm looking around and I don't see any obvious dead limbs above my, or trees, above my tent. So, hopefully it won't be bad enough for a whole lot of tree to fall on my tent. I heard it coming from afar. Here goes the water test. That's the great thing about being in the green tunnel. It sure does take a while for the water to actually get to you from the leaves. But, it's a downpour. Up there. This one's gonna be a doozy. Uh oh. It's getting saturated on that ring. And, the one up there, too. Mmm. Some lessons are learned the hard way. Alright. Well, roaches don't bite. I mean, I guess they can, but typically. It's not wasps in the vestibule. And, this is not the last of the rain I'm gonna get tonight. So, I'm braping the roaches. Alright, so my plan is to unzip the netting. And then reach through and unzip the vestibule. With hopefully minimal amount of bugs coming in. Ah, there's a birch right there. And then, unhook it and shake the vestibule. And then, hopefully. These things are not super easy to unhook. Now, shake what your mama gave you. Boom, roaches. Get out of here. Alright, now. I have the netting. Fall down. I think. Gone out. But, this side is safe to get out of. Alright. Ah! Okay, one got in. Dang it. Got him out. Time to brave it. So, it's this seam right here that's the problem. That was really dumb to miss that. Alright, something else I'm going to do is wedge this log. Well, branch, whatever. Under the end of the tent there. And try to prop up the netting. Hopefully, just as a double whammy to try to help. But, it's kind of heavy, so. I probably need both hands. That log under there, it's definitely helping to keep the netting horizontal. More horizontal. So, I think that's going to do the trick. Given, I definitely should have seam sealed this properly. And then, this wouldn't be as big of an issue for sure. But, having a little bungee like the duplex has here to attach to up there. That would help pull this like that and make sure that netting stays horizontal. I thought it was a mouse. It's you. You like the rain, don't you? Or do you just like all the bugs under here? Creating a whole little ecosystem in my vestibule. There's definitely some condensation, but it's not any worse than any other single wall tent. That's been manageable. I assume it's coming in through that seam there and just soaking down this seam and running into here. But, this is my fault, not the tent's fault. If you've got one of these though, definitely make sure you seam seal this seam. And I might would possibly even do this one right here. Just so condensation doesn't run down the thread into the floor. Tent's looking kind of saggy this morning. That's nylon for you. My goodness, this teeny little baby. Look how small it is. You sitting here in the middle of the trail like you're going to stop somebody. I mean you did, to be fair. You're pretty. Your eyes look like you hadn't gotten much sleep though. Sorry. Go off the road, little dude. You're going to get squished. You're going to get me squished trying to save you. Go, go, go. No. Other way. Go, go, go. See? Come here. Get on this. Nope. Alright, alright, here we go. So the next 3.8 is private property and I can only camp at the shelter. Alright. This is fancy. A 3.5 sided structure with windows. So far the Lanshan 2 has been fine. It functions well. It's not difficult to set up once you get the hang of it. Or if you watched the setup video by 3FUL Gear, that's helpful. I'm not crazy about the little hooks that the vestibule doors hook to. They're just not easy to get on and off or as easy as other type hooks. These hooks you almost have to like twist in or hit the gap in the back of it. And in a situation where you're trying to get in and out quickly because of bugs or rain, it's just not the quickest fasteners I've ever seen. I do appreciate that there are hooks on the inside of the tent where you can connect your headlamp. I don't love, my least favorite thing probably, is that it doesn't come seam sealed. And I thought at first that 3FUL Gear didn't even offer the option of seam sealing it, but they actually do. It's just offered as an item on the website that you add to the cart instead of an option on the page where you buy the tent. You do have to pay extra for it, so of course you have to account for that in the price with this being a budget tent. Or account for your time and the seam sealer product itself to seam seal it yourself. And I did not do a great job of that, but I will never seam seal a tent again myself. I will either not buy one if they don't offer a seam sealing service or if I had known that this one offered a seam sealing service, then I definitely would have opted for that. It's just not something I love to do with my time. Today is going to town day. I'm on my last break. I think I've got a little less than 2 miles downhill. I've looked all the uphills today. To Fall Branch Falls. So I'm excited to see that. I don't know anything about it, what it looks like. Then I'm going to go into town, pick up another tent, another Lanshan 2, but not the pro version so that I can compare and contrast that to the Lanshan Pro 2 that I used in this stretch for my final stretch to Springer Mountain. This stretch has been pretty nice and I'm excited at all the wildlife I've seen so I'm hoping in the next stretch I'll see at least as much, if possibly not more.