Last year I did a bunch of backpacking in the Whites and on the AT in Maine and primarily used a Gatewood Cape for shelter. However, often when it rained I used tent platforms or stayed in the available shelters rather than camp on the ground.
This year I want to get away into more areas where shelters and tent platforms are not an option, but would like to continue to use floorless shelters. (Sometimes the G Cape and sometimes a small tarp.)
My concern is that often camping is either officially restricted to designated sites, or unnofficially restricted to limited site availability due to the terrain. These sites suffer from heavy use and often end up forming shallow depressions and I'm afraid will become like swimming pools in a heavy rainstorm. I'm not 100% confident that my bivy sack, even if combined with a groundsheet, will keep me dry when forced to camp in these heavily impacted sites in a storm.
So I'm wondering, if you hike in an area like the Whites and use a floorless shelter, what do you do to ensure staying dry in the rain?
