[pct-l] tarptents and wind

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About four years ago I, too, was in Evolution Basin and equipped with only  
an 8x10 tarp.  The temperature began to drop and soon I had on most every  
layer.  When I reached the Pass it was late afternoon and the Hut was  
already filled, people peering through the glass, wondering if they could  
make it down to their camps in the Valley.  I continued down on the south  
side, past Helen Lake, until I came to the first grove of trees taller  
than me and rigged the tarp very low, using a downed log as a windbreak  
and as a place for the tie-outs on one side.  It was noisy, and it took a  
long time to get all the tie-outs to work at the same time, but I was  
snug.  Later, friends joined me and set up an early-production Rainbow,  
foot into the wind.  They later complained about a cold draft, but they  
too were generally warm and slept well.

If there had been a serious snowfall all of us would have been in trouble,  
but I hiked away from that site reassured about the general worthiness of  
a simple tarp - and lots of tie-outs.


On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 07:27:07 -0800, Robert W. Freed  
<robert at engravingpros.com> wrote:

>   ... last season I got caught in Evolution Basin in a sudden storm at  
> dusk. The temperature dropped 30 degrees with wind gusts up to 50+ mph.  
> Raining horizontal. Setting up my 8x10 tarp would have been a joke. I  
> was cold in half an hour and in trouble within one hour. Now I know why  
> they built Muir Hut first hand. It leaks like a sieve but at least it  
> blocks the wind. I setup my tarp inside and was warm within two cup  
> o'soups.
>     I was lucky and I learned a lesson. It seems like the rainbow setup  
> with the wind might work. At least way better than a tarp in the wind.  
> ...


-- 
Jeffrey "57" Zimmerman
Sonoma County
The Left Coast