Looks like the weather was holding out to be pretty springtime nasty and gross that day...

Perfect.

Of course class was being held outside today! Of course all the usual gear was waiting for everyone just outside of the preserve, keeping nice and dry and ready underneath a large tarp he'd put up well before class.

"Alright, everyone," he said, "gather on up under the tarp for now and enjoy it before we head out there, because, naturally, we're talking about hiking in crappy weather, and it looks like the forecast decided to cooperate with us on that one. Now, obviously, we're going to go over a lot of things, like protecting your gear and proper clothing and things like that, then we're gearing up, heading out, putting these into practice, and then at the end of the trail, I've already got a nice little shelter set up so we can get a fire going and warm up a bit with hot cocoa and things like that. If you're going to be trudging through the woods on a day like today, might as well have a little something to look forward to at the end, right?"

And that might not sound like everyone's idea of something to look forward to at the end, but, well, it wasn't their class, now, was it?