Last night, I set my tent up for the first time outside, which I'm sure looked rather amusing to onlookers. I'm not quite convinced I have it staked correctly, since the connection between the tent and the stakes seems rather flimsy, but it's still here in one piece.
It was a lot warmer in the tent last night than the shelters, and I managed to sleep without needing all of my day clothes on to stay warm. Also, managed to sleep a bit better. Not sure if I'm getting used to sleeping on hard surfaces, or the pain for yesterday's hike overrode the uncomfortableness of the hard surface.
Think I'm only going to go as far as the next shelter today, Whitley Gap in just over 7 miles. Legs are stil hurting from yesterday, so I don't want to push it too much.
Wound up having a 3:30 am snack of a Snickers bar. Suspecting this may become the norm.
Now: breakfast and a second attempt at a hot shower.