I just deleted all my pictures cry

Couple things:

1) The nail stakes that come with the TarpTent didn't work in soft sand. I had to improvise sand stakes from firewood (brought in on a truck) to set up tent on night one. I wish I had pictures of this, because it was amusing to see. On night two, sand was firm enough for nail stakes.

2) TarpTent's Rainshadow 2 did alright ONCE IT WAS UP in 25 knot winds. Anything more than that and I ran into problems. We tore down camp in 30+knot winds on day two and I was afraid of shredding the tent. Getting it up in 25 knot winds was a two person job. Sites were exposed in all directions; no windbreak. I stayed dry in the rainstorm when I trimmed the tent right, despite 20knot winds (wind speeds are estimates based on experience). Will likely talk to TarpTent about choices for next Tent I buy from them.

3) Water was THE issue. Hike was truck supported to move water and equipment (two foot long 1x2 sand stakes are not lightweight). Scouts did not understand the "gallon (+) per person per day" metric and consistently bring too little water. Filtering water wasn't an option; fresh water did not exist.

4) Walk was 13 miles across open terrain (no trail). Could have been shorter if the SPL had made a different decision to go around a housing development. Great learning experience for all concerned. For reference purposes, started 1/4 mi east of Peninsula Farm's facility near Isa Air Base and the Tree of Life and ended at Al Jazair Public Beach.

Steadman