Shades State Park is beautiful, but I don't know if or when I will return for camping. All of the campsites are listed as Class B (non-electric). The only benefit that offers over a Class C (primitive) is access to a shower. For me, it's not worth double the nightly rate. As with most Indiana State Parks, the campsites are reasonably spacious and with the chilly weather it was pretty sparsely populated. Shades is closed to overnight camping November through March.
For me, the weekend started on a bad note and went downhill from there. The friend who was supposed to meet me there bailed at the last minute. On the way to the park, I realized that I had forgotten to bring a water jug so I had to take a trip into nearby Crawfordsville to buy some water. It turned out that I would have had to do that anyway as all of the water spigots in the park were bagged off for winter. Another thing I forgot was my adapter for the 20-pound propane tank. I had to rely on a couple of disposable canisters - one for my stove and only one lantern. At least I stayed warm overnight.
West Central Indiana apparently never heard the weatherman's forecast of sunny and pleasant for Saturday because I awoke to a windy, chilly, and overcast day. Since the conditions had not improved by noon, I decided to call it a weekend and head home. While taking down my tent, I broke the elastic cord in one of the poles. Maybe when I fix it, I should just replace all of the cords in the other poles, too. I think I'm done until next spring.
Sorry to hear the weather didn't cooperate. At least it was dry. I don't mind cold or wet, but hate cold *and* wet. We had a 3-night trip a few weeks ago where it rained or drizzled pretty much from before we left home until just before we left the campground, but the weather was supposed to just be overcast with minimal rain. Fortunately, it was fairly warm and we were in our TT.
I've had to replace the shock cord in my tent poles a couple of times now. It seems to last me about 4-5 years. It may also depend on where you store the tent, since mine was stored in my attic for the first few years I had it. I know REI sells the shock cord if Castleton is near you, and if Amazon doesn't sell it, I'd be incredibly surprised. Some spring clamps can be a big help to hold the cord, especially when you're doing the last couple of segments on a pole. I would go ahead and replace them all, otherwise you'll likely find the remaining poles will following the first in rapid succession.
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