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[pct-l] Shelter Continued
> I am worried that in colder weather a tarptent might not give
> me the warmth I need...
My guess is that you will be fine with a tarptent unless you are
bringing a 45 degree sleeping bag or something like that. I have only
done the Sierra Nevada section of the PCT (Whitney to Tahoe), which I
presume is one of the coldest parts of the PCT. If you follow
Jardine's advice of sleeping low, then you will encounter warmer
weather during the night. Of course there are sections of the trail
where the "low" points will still be like 8000', but you won't die from
one or two uncomfortably cold nights. You just have to ask
yourself: "am I willing to carry a heavier tent for three months just
so I do not have the potential to be uncomfortable for a few nights?"
Of course, there are exceptions to everything and the PCT is not exempt
from fluke summer storms. The Sierra Nevada has received snow during
every month of the year; I was on the JMT in August '98 and was snowed
on going over Glen Pass (11,000+ ft).
Jardine really does a good job of getting to the root of this issue.
Its not about having bomb-proof gear for every situation; if you did
that, then you'd carry a 4-season tent for the extremely rare summer
sortm that dumps loads of snow with gale-force winds, thunder, hail,
and freezing rain. Jardine's idea is that you should not rely so much
on your gear that you abandon good sense. He says that its 'safe" to
carry a tarp in the Sierra *IF* you are smart about your hike. For
example, if the weather seem sketchy for your shelter system, then you
need to plan by: (1) trying to select a location that will improve your
shelter's performance (camping low, protected by wind by trees/rocks,
etc), (2) be prepared to change plans such as moving your camp, or if
worse comes to worse, abandon the trail and move quickly to a
trailhead. In other words, if you are camping at an exposed site and
are hit by a bad storm and low temperatures, then you may decide to
pack up and try to make it to lower ground even if its 10 miles away.
When I read this in Jardine's PCT book, I changed the idea I had of "be
prepared" that I had learned in Boy Scouts. I still adhere to the
motto, but I now think of it more as a state of mind rather than "bring
every item you think you might need in the back country". I try to be
prepared for any curve-balls that nature or other unforseen events
might throw my way: Plan ahead, leave yourself a bail out, know how to
handle yourself in the back country.
> Definitely want the tent for completely enclosed bug
> protection, ease of setup and room to move around in bad weather.
Try looking at some of the tarptents posted on this list. Many of them
have mesh screens to keep bugs out. I think most people would agree
that a tarp provides MORE room to move around than a tent. I also
think that most tarps are easier to set up than most tents, or at least
have fewer poles, lines, and stakes.
> In
> asking for your opinions I just wanted to reassure myself that their
> wasn't some tent that I would be a fool not to carry, knowing it is
> almost entirely personal preference maybe all I need to do is just buy
> a light tent and be done with it.
There is no such "perfect" tent. Sorry :-) Everyone has their own
opinions and needs. You will need to look at all of them and maybe try
out some of them to find out which one you like best. This list is a
great way to hear lost of opinions and narrow the product list down to
several good options, but no one will be able to say "this is the
one". Only you will know that.
peace,
dude
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