holy FUCK i just came back from camping for essentially the first time and JESUS CHRIST IT GOT COLD. we planned to stay for another day and night but the first night was so demoralizing that we just ended up finding a way back to the parking lot immediately (we ended up sliding down like 100ft of rock to get there because we knew the direciton we wanted but didn't know if the trail we were on would take us there; it was a really fun trip but the night was unbearable)

the point is that you all said to not go full out when buying gear for the first time. you make fun of people who spend upwards of $300 on fancy gear as a unacquainted first-timer/noob. BUT WE SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT FANCY GEAR BECAUSE WHAT WE HAD FUCKING SUCKED ASS. one of those expensive sleeping bags that are made out of some magical heat insulator that fold up to the size of a soda can would have been fucking amazing. while we were hiking we felt over-encumbered and we didn't get anything out of that because our heavy clunky tents and sleeping bags sucked anyway.

the earth is very big and as your body heat dissipates into it, it's like a black hole. it sucks everything out of you; i never understood this before.