January 13 Tarp vs. Tent
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
Yesterday (Jan. 12), Bill and I spent the whole day hiking on Bolinas Ridge. It rained almost all day, and at times was so cold we could see our breath. It was a fantastic hiking day! Great practice for Oregon and Washington on the PCT! We were cheering as we walked along, and reminiscing about the PCT.
The trail on Bolinas Ridge has everything you could want–hill climbs, open meadows with cows, deep dark redwood/douglas fir forests, ocean views (well, not when it’s raining, though). One time before when we were on the Bolinas Ridge trail, we caught up with a group of yuppie hikers all in a tither, standing around helplessly, because a herd of Black Angus mama cows and calves was all over the trail ahead of them. Bill and I marched past the yuppies, and walked at the cows, saying, “Hey, mama! Move over!” and the cows obligingly did just that. But yesterday, there was a big ol’ Black Angus BULL standing right in the middle of the trail. He was as tall as I am, and was chewing a mouthful of grass. We did NOT mess with him! “Hi, big fella! We’ll just walk around you!” was our greeting to him. He never moved, just watched us as we circled around him.
When we reached the forest part of the trail, we were amazed to see that SOMETHING had literally been tearing up, shredding, etc. all the plants and brush for 10-15 feet on each side of the trail. What on earth could have done that? It was obviously freshly done. A bit more hiking and we had the answer–a three man crew running a huge brusheating machine–it had a long arm with a sort of super rotary mower device (the size of a manhole cover), and it was just tearing everything up–ferns, bushes, small trees, everything. It seems they were making a firebreak. I sympathize, but oh, bummer, what used to be a lovely trail through the forest, lined with ferns and berry bushes, etc. is now a wasteland. I guess it will grow back.
But to my subject of tarps ‘n tents. Whenever we are out hiking, I find that one of the instincts I developed on the PCT–“Where is a good place to camp around here?” and looking for a likely place, is still with me. I’ll be hiking along, wherever, and find myself thinking, “Hmmm. If this were just about sundown and I wanted to camp, could I camp here?” In 2005 I got pretty good at spotting a place for our camp, even if we were on a mountainside. Once we spot that JUST big enough flat place, and clear it of sticks and stones and pinecones, then we either just roll out the groundcloth and sleeping bags and “cowboy camp”, OR we put up our TARP. That’s right–we are TARP-ers. The only time we use a tent is if we are carcamping, and want privacy in a public campground.
We use the Gossamer Gear “SpinnTwin” tarp. It’s made of spinnaker nylon, and it was just right for the whole PCT in 2005. We have replaced it, since the original now has pinhole leaks. We love our tarp. Tents have major problems with condensation, and you can’t see anything. And you can’t put your gear inside the tent with you, and tents are way too heavy. Etc.
The tarp is superlight, very easy to set up (we can either use two of our trek poles, or just tree trunks, bushes, etc.) and it kept us dry and comfortable through rain and snow in 2005. Depending on conditions, there are several different ways to “rig” it. The one and only time it failed us was a couple of days before we reached Kennedy Meadows, when we were hit by an unbelievably fierce and violent storm during the night. For many hours, it was torrential rain with wind wild enough to break the tops off the trees around us. Lightning was hitting close by, and the thunder was deafening. It was the wind that was the problem–we had set up the tarp and staked it as usual, not anticipating the wild storm. Had we known what was coming, we would have TIED down the tarp. So in the violent wind, the stakes came out and the tarp collapsed. Brave Bill went out and fixed it, but in the meantime, all our stuff got pretty wet because of the torrents of rain coming down. So now, if we have ANY concern of a storm in the night, we TIE down the tarp!
And oh yes, the tarp stakes–we use titanium stakes. They save us several ounces of weight.
Seriously, don’t even think of bringing a tent on the PCT. Tarps are great!
Thank you for your comments re equipment. You say you prefer tarp’s; how do you deal with insects or bugs? Especially mosq’s in Desolation during Jun after snow melts.
Also, setting up a tent or tarp each night takes time & energy. What are your thoughts on bivys?
Thank you for your journal, it is helpful. I plan to begin my long dist backpacking by thru-hike the TRT Sum-2010.
Best,
Larry
We love our tarp! When it’s awful mosquito time (like it was for us in Oregon in 2005), we use a modified version of Ray Jardine’s “net tent”. (Mine is lighter than Ray’s) It hangs underneath the tarp, and doesn’t require any extra stakes.
As far as setting up a tarp taking time every night, well, we only set up the tarp if we anticipate rain or cold or heavy dew. Otherwise, we cowboy camp, under the stars. We had a lot of wonderful nights on the PCT where we could just lie back and take in the beauty of the night sky.
However, it is no big deal to set up the tarp. Even I can do it myself. What’s great is that if it’s raining (and yes, we often did set up camp in the rain!), the first thing you do is rig the tarp, and after that, all the other details (like putting out the groundcloth, sleeping bags, etc.) are all done “in the dry” under the tarp. We even set up the tarp to cook under in the rain, so that we could relax and enjoy our noon break.
I have never personally tried a bivy. To me, it would have all the disadvantages of a tent, especially the condensation problem. It provides you no shelter for cooking, or for setting up camp. And for the life of me, I cannot figure out how, in the pouring rain, you can lay out a bivy, put in your sleeping bag, take off your hiking clothes and put on your sleeping clothes, without everything getting soaked. Or maybe you don’t bother with sleeping clothes–even then your birthday suit would get pretty wet and cold. No thanks! Not to mention that a bivy gives no protection to your pack and the rest of your gear. Give me a tarp!
Seriously, though, have a great hike on the TRT!
The reason they clear the brush so far back from the trail is they can only get to each section once every so many years, and the brush grows so fast if they only cleared the trail it would be overgrown again next year.
Oh, going down to Belden last summer the trail was so overgrown as high as my chest all I could do was push through the brush and hope there was trail under it (and no snakes!)
Great you get to do it again. I’m still sectioning. We met at Ebbetts Pass in 2005.
Wow, the overgrowth on the PCT near Belden must be a pretty chronic problem! When we were hiking north out of Belden in 2005, we were pushing through the bushes, too. I also remember a lot of pushing through bushes and hoping there was trail under my feet when we were in Section N, south of Lassen Nat’l. Park. To add to the fun, deer hunting season had started, and I can say, it is NOT a comfortable feeling to be pushing through bushes, hoping you are still on the trail, and hearing gunshots in the woods across the way! I would fervently hope and pray that whatever hunter fired the shot was a good marksman, got his deer, and would then go home!