Would a simple A-frame tarp provide suitable weather protection for a PCT thru hike?

I used a catenary cut tarp, BPL stealth nano, on my PCT thru hike. I set her up a total of three nights and was rained on once and had everything from rain through snow the other night. The plain rain night was in Wa and rain was coming quick and we setup in what ended up being a less than perfectly sheltered spot on a ridge. With the rain came the wind blowing right under the tarp. No problem I thought, I have a bivy and will be protected. Looking back three years later I can see the flaw in my plan. While the bivy helped with the rain, it also kept the bivy from breathing in the foot box and I ended up having my quilt wet anyway.

Much of this could have been eliminate with either better site selection and/or pitching the tarp very low. I learned a lesson that night that has served me well since. As far as your situation. On the PCT, for at least my hiking window (late May through late August) weight would be more important than absolute protection. Three night setup for a 98 day hike, I can live through a long night. If that window is extended into April on the start and late Sep and early Oct on the finish then I would have a different tune. My window minimized crappy weather on both ends.

A flat tarp doesn't always have to be pitched as an a-frame.
In fact I usually end up not pitching my flat tarps in an a-frame configuration.

I will often pitch flying diamond when I'm in a hurry, a modified a-frame(one end tight to ground) for warmth or blowing rain conditions.

Many people thru-hike with flat tarps.

Research the many pitch options out there and try them out.

Contrary to Malto, I pitched my tarp at least 25 nights on my PCT thru-hike. It was a wet year. I started with an MLD Grace Solo (cat-cut tarp) that I used through Oregon. For Washington, I switched to a GoLite SL-1. I was glad to have more protection in Washington–we had days of rain.

If you want to go with a simple tarp and are worried about windblown rain or splashing, you have a bunch of options: use an umbrella to close the open side, hang your rain jacket over the opening, use a water-resistant bivy (that's what I did), or get a shaped tarp with closed ends instead of a flat tarp.

If you have a flat tarp in an A-frame situation, it isn't too hard to close off one end with a couple of square yards of plastic or cuben fiber, and that weighs very little extra.

–B.G.–

Your post didn't say when and where you are going, so all I can say is "maybe."

I left Campo the first week in May and it would have been fine. I got snowed on a few times. No rain. I did see high winds. I would definitely take a catenary tarp over a flat one. You'll almost never pitch it. Are you taking a bivy to protect you from wind?

My wife and I will start at the southern terminus in early to mid-April (depending on the Sierra snowpack next year) and most likely finish in late September (if all goes well), so shoulder season weather will be a real possibility.

We wouldn't take a bivy, but would take an inner net tent with a floor. My wife really wants to be enclosed away from bugs, so tarp only is currently not an option. Her opinion may evolve over time, but right now, she's not interested in an "open" shelter. The idea would be to pitch the inner net tent alone for the vast majority of the nights when a tarp isn't needed, and bring the tarp out for the rest.

Right now, I'm basically trying to decide if a fully enclosed inner net tent + tarp would be worth carrying over our current TarpTent Double Rainbow. The inner net tent + tarp setup can be lighter (especially with a cuben tarp), but not by that much. It's certainly more expensive.

If you, yourself, are not bothered by the thought of the bugs, maybe just get her a bug bivy while you cowboy camp? MLD's big bivy is 6oz w/ a sil floor.

I don't view this as a weight question. If your wife insists on bug protection then ask yourself if you want to be in a fully enclosed tent every night. I view a bug tent as being a much better experience than a tent to get integrated into your surroundings. On the other hand some people want to be enclosed in their own little cocoon, the TT would be a better answer for then. Also, I know my bug inner is a much quicker setup and tear down than a TT. This also would be a bigger factor for me than an ounce or two.

A bugnet inner with a 1/2 height solid ends and a high bathtub bottom will withstand very nasty weather under a modest tarp.

Another consideration is how you spend your nights. I hike till dark-thirty, eat, and sleep till dusk. If I want to watch stars I stay up and watch. But when I turn in, I'm done watching, so a netted Zpack Hex works for me. (I don't like bugs.) I get a morning view, which is just enough.

Last, if your wife wants to go, do everything you can to keep her happy. It's that simple.

I used a I a catenary cut MLD Grace Solo CF Tarp in 2009 on the PCT. I set it up about 9 times overall, including the last 3 days on the trail for snow. I did use a MLD water resitant bivy with it but I prefer cowboy camping so the bivy fits in how I like to camp. I had far less condensation issues then others I know with Tarptents and other single wall more tent like structures in Washington. I never had any issues getting wet underneath. But the main thing to stay dry in a tarp is campsite selection. Don't pick a spot where water will pool (ie. that clear spot that people have been camping on for 20years) and favor more shelter spots such as trees groves, behind rocks/bushes, etc. I've been using tarps in a simple A frame in the western mountains since 2008 and haven't encountered any reasons to switch yet. I do vary the height and width of the pitch depending on conditions though.

^^^ this guy did it right

An inner tent plus tarp requires a little bit of work to get set up well. I would just get a a very light weight double wall tent. You'll only need the fly on a couple of nights. Putting up the main body is quick, which is a plus if you happen to like doing long days. I would not take a tarp tent but that is because I like to star gaze and watch the sunsets. The PCT offers a lot of sunsets and stars….

Thanks for all the feedback so far!

To answer just a few questions posed by the comments above:

1) I am open to using a more "open" shelter like a tarp. I think my wife would need to experience it first to make up her mind.

2) My wife really wants to be right next to me at night, and we are very close sleepers, so any shelter system that separates us and precludes direct physical contact at any time is out. She feels much safer when she is right next to me at night.

3) Bugs are a big psychological (and physical) issue for my wife. She grew up in an area of SoCal where I have yet to encounter a single mosquito, so she's coming from that perspective. More importantly, she has a really bad reaction to most all bug bites, especially mosquitos. Her mosquito bites look like my bee stings. It constantly amazes me…

Anyway, the safer she feels from the bugs, the happier she is going to be, and like one of you mentioned above, I want to keep her happy on our backpacking trips as much as possible. She's a real trooper with just about everything but bugs.

4) Right now, we probably spend a little more time in camp than the average PCT thru-hiker does, but I suspect on our own PCT hike we will adopt much longer hiking days, and much shorter camping nights/mornings, as is the rational approach to covering many miles day after day.

I hope these answers will help inform your feedback. I'm still a little unclear about how the experience of a camping in a double bivy vs a 2 person bug net (with floor) would differ. For instance, how much does the wind protection differ? At what point do you pitch the tarp just for wind protection alone? How often does that happen on the PCT, assuming you are selecting campsites strategically to try and avoid heavy exposure?

It seems to me that wind is probably a more frequent consideration than precipitation on the PCT, so I definitely want to keep this in mind while choosing a shelter for us.

Thanks again for all your help!

Honestly if I was doing a long hike with another person I would pick up a stratospire 2 and be done with it. Obvious merits of weight (split between two), double walled, roomy, great protection, seperate inner, etc.

While I have no experience on the PCT, I have been using a pro poncho tarp/ bug bivy setup and can say I would not want to use it for many days of bad weather here on the AT. For my regular 2 night trips it is fine and the weight is great for a solo carrier. But any wind will (especially with rain) force a low pitch with little head room and rob you of heat (unless you pitch tight to the ground, but even then your ends are open). It is true these can be mitigated by site selection, but sites on the AT where I am aren't plentiful enough to count on that.

Of course you could get a much bigger tarp and inner but then you basically have a tarp tent. Do you know what size tarp you are looking at out of curiosity?

"Of course you could get a much bigger tarp and inner but then you basically have a tarp tent. Do you know what size tarp you are looking at out of curiosity?

Not sure really since, again, I'm new to tarping on the ground. I was thinking at least an 8×10 ft tarp if it's open ended, but still not sure…

The trail weight of my current TT Double Rainbow (thoroughly seam-sealed and with all associated guylines and tent poles) is 41.35 ounces, or 2 lbs 9.35 ounces.

I have already come to the conclusion that a full 8×10 ft silnylon tarp + spacious inner bug net with integrated silnylon floor will not save me any weight over my current Double Rainbow. I would need to go with a cuben fiber tarp to save perhaps 8 ounces. Switching a bug net inner for a double bivy to use in conjunction with a tarp might save some weight, but again, it's have to be sure right now without having the real gear in from of me.

The tarp + inner bug net tent would need to be more functional than the Double Rainbow to make it compelling enough to switch right now. That is basically what I'm trying to get a handle on.

Oh, by the way, we don't currently use trekking poles either.

The way I see it right now in terms of pros/cons:

Tarp + Inner Bug Net
Pros:
Better stargazing on clear nights
True double walled protection during rain
Condensation probably less of an issue
Waterproof layer (i.e. the tarp) only needs to be unpacked/repacked when there is rain or strong winds
Easier to dry out
Tarp and inner net tent can be carried separately to split weight between two people (but this is irrelevant to me right now because I will be carrying both to lighten my wife's load as much as possible)
Possible to save weight if cuben fiber tarp is chosen, though this would be a much more expensive option

Cons:
Setup will almost certainly be more involved than the Double Rainbow, which is as simple as it gets save for perhaps a bivy bag
Most likely less living space inside the bug tent vs. the Double Rainbow, especially with regards to interior height
Not as "enclosed" of a feeling (this could be a pro for some, though) and not as much privacy while camping in groups or public places
Probably less protected in open areas versus the 360 degree coverage of the Double Rainbow
Need to figure out what supports to use (two dedicated straight poles, sticks, trekking poles, etc.)
I'd have to go through the trouble and expense of buying it, versus the Double Rainbow which I already own

Another option, albeit very pricey, would be to get a Cuben Fiber Haven and Net Tent. The net tent has very good interior space, enough so my girlfriend and I don't bump into each other too much when getting settled or packing up. I typically leave the net tent attached but you still have the option of leaving the shell off. Leaving the shell attached, with the doors rolled up, you can still get some very expansive views and it helps keep any dew off your bags. If you go this route, you can get a set of aluminum poles from Tarptent, cheaper than the poles SMD offers and only weigh 4 oz.

Erik,
The Cuben Fiber Haven and Net Tent combo is definitely in consideration. It would probably net me about 10 ounces of weight savings and add some versatility, though I'd obviously pay an arm and a leg for it.

I've also been looking at the Zpacks Duplex, which would save me the most weight, but would also cost a great deal as well while not providing any more versatility than my current Double Rainbow. I'm also not yet sold on the idea of using Cuben Fiber as a floor material where resistance to abrasion is paramount.

I personally prefer cowboy camping with my bivy. Sometimes I set up the MLD grace tarp a few yards away if I think it might start raining during the night, and still cowboy camp.

My wife likes to be enclosed and to have a physical and psychological barrier against bugs. We use the TT Double Rainbow,

If you do not use hiking poles to allow a switch to another perhaps lighter tarptent from Henry Shires or SMD, such as the Stratosphere, I would say stick with the Double Rainbow.

Honestly, given the parameters you provided I think I would just stick with the Double Rainbow. You know it will work and the weight savings with a large bug inner under a Tarp will negate a good chunk of the weight savings the Tarp offers. You could absolutely save some weight with any number of two person cuben fiber options but they cost an arm and a leg.

Derek, if you encounter rough weather you only need to pitch it as low as possible to the ground so it's almost touching your bag, but not touching your bag. You would need some near horizontal wind blown rain to get wet.