[pct-l] Tarps vs. tents

["Christine Kudija" <cmkudija@earthlink.net>]

I can't help but get excited for all you 99-ers!  Now that it's almost March
I'm thinking back to March of '94 and it seems like yesterday!  I had a
thought about tents vs. tarps that I haven't seen anyone discuss yet so I
thought I'd put in my 2 cent's worth...

For a while we used a North Face Arrowhead tent (I think it's discontinued
now...) - it was heavier than we wanted but a freestanding four-season
bomber tent.  After a couple of weeks to save weight we decided to
experiment with using just the tent fly as a tarp, stretched over the tent
poles.  Well...this did provide shelter from wind, but not from the ants.
Desert ants are big fellas....  and we were awakened more than once by an
ant crawling over some exposed body part.  Finally in Mammoth we broke down
and bought a $300.00 Sierra Designs Meteor Light - a freestanding modified
dome.  It's been a perfect tent except in high wind conditions on a plateau.
(really high chinook type winds in the spring over the forks of the San Juan
River, Colo....)   Anyhow, just a thought.  If you don't mind leetle legs
crawling on you in the middle of the night, tarps are fine....  we just
wanted to sleep through the night! ;-)

Snickers bars are WONDERFUL.  So are Paydays - they don't have chocolate to
melt....

Joanne & Margo & other female hikers - you might think about iron
supplements too...
I'll be thinking of you on April 16 while I'm studying for finals!


Christine Kudija


* From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List |  http://www.backcountry.net   *

==============================================================================