Can i vent? - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

ok, sorry for the whining, i just gotta get this out. i bought a new tent, a Eureka Gossamer, my very first tent of my own. well, in prep for my hike, which is in 3 days, i set my tent up yesterday in my back yard to get the newness smell out, and to see just how much room i had in it with my pack and stuff. i leave it for a few hours and when i go back out to it, it is demolished beyond repair. not to mention my Platypus (hydration system), which you have to INTENTIONALLY put a hole in, has a perfect 1 inch long slit right down near the seam. not a puncture hole like a dog bit it, but a clean cut like a pocket knife. i’m not accusing a PERSON of this b/c it hurts my heart to think that anyone could be this mean. it was just uncanny, ya know? ironic how for months i pitched a tent on the Trail and with all the wild animals never had a problem like this. pitch my brand new tent in my own back yard in daylight 3 days before my hike and shit gets ugly. whew! thanks for listening.

roadie

#2

You’re right, it wasn’t a person that did those bad things. It was most likely a racoon, one of the cleverest critters around. Leave anything unattended for more than a few minutes, and they’ll just tear it to pieces. Just for funs. Sounds like he had one of those Spyder knives too.

BiteBlaze

#3

Roadie: what a awful thing…I wish you the best; a number of yrs ago, there was a bumper sticker that simply said: “Mean People Suck”. That about sums it up. I’ve found that usually eventually, some kind of karma (actually more often, it’s a case where they get caught, or suffer logical consequences for what they do) gets folks that pull that kind of stuff. Until then, you have all of our thoughts. Idea: go out immediately & buy what you need again (I guess you kind of have to, given you’re leaving so soon)& don’t dwell on it; when bad crap happens to me the quicker that I rectify it, the quicker I heal. Good luck. RBG.

P.S…In case this sounds a bit too “fluffy”, It also helps to visualize something rotten happening to them too! :girl

RBG

#4

Roadie: That really suck, really it does. Here is some karma for you, I have a Kelty Clark tent 4-sale. I used it for like 2 nights. It is not the same as you Eureka Grossmar but it only weighs like 3 pounds and is yours for the price of shipping if it will help you out. Think about it and let me know. Sue/Hammock Hanger :girl

Hammock Hanger

#5

Roadie, Sorry about the bad luck. Thats just the way some people get there kicks. I think it comes from not enough love and attention as children. Where do you live? Could it have been kids?

Virginian

#6

probably right about the raccoon thing, once at Sarver Hollow shelter i watched helplessly as a raccoon ran off with my last pair of good socks. we actually made eye contact before she took them away for good. i could only throw rocks at her and curse while my friends looked on and laughed under their breathe.
thanks HH for the offer! i am a firm believer in karma and i have a friend right near Springer, about 3 hrs. from me, who has a plethera of tents that i can borrow. it wasn’t finding another tent in time that worried me. it was just that when i started my hike last year, all my gear was borrowed from a friend who hiked '00. i have been slowly but surely gathering my own set of gear, and slowly but surely getting his back to him. looks like he might wait a little longer on his tent.:oh he just keeps saying, in true trash tradition, “keep it as long as you need it, i know it’ll come back to me, literally or otherwise.” he’s a good friend. But thank you for your generous offer, HH. You are good people.
i look at it like this…this is a test, and damn’t, i’m gonna pass it!:smokin

roadie

#7

well, like i said, i don’t really want to blame a person, BUT there are some children, and particularly one person whom i’ve had serious problems with since we were like 14 (almost 10 yrs ago). this person somehow got wind of my trip, and has been very open with her opinion of how “stupid” she thinks it is. she has problems, mental, legal, everything. i have no proof, but i wouldn’t put it past her. i just don’t want to think of that being the case. ya know?

roadie

#8

Maybe she hired the Raccoons?!? She prolly talks to them all. the. time.

Sorry to hear about your stuff. I know the pain of hiking with hand me downs… I do love the way hiker’s react to other hikers though. It makes me feel good that there’s a community of people out there who haven’t forgotten the rules of karma, and are willing to help out people they’ve never even met.

You’ll get throught it Road, and you’ll be better for it.

Thunder