Overnighter @ Shining Rock in NC

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I got back today from an overnight trip to the Shining Rock Wilderness Area in North Carolina. Temps got down to the mid-40's overnight and we saw a high of 87 today. Yesterdays high I would say was in the low 70's. The ground was pretty wet and a dense fog rolles in last night leaving a large amount of dew on the various shelters. My carry weight was roughly 19.8 lbs. This was my first time trying out my Gossamer Gear Mariposa, Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn tarp, Simblissity Inner Peace bug netting, and MontBell inflatable pad.

Short list of what did and did not work for me:

Did Work:
Nike Air Pegasus trail runners
Teko quarter socks
Ibex Outback L/S jersey
MontBell pad
Western Mountaineering Caribou
BPL 550 pot and Caldera Cone
Gossamer Gear Mariposa (aside from fabric failure pictured below)

The Mariposa survived some tough overgrown brush with no rips even though it's not built for that and I wasn't expecting to be bushwhacking or I wouldn't have carried it. If it can be repaired it will remain in my staple for trips where no bushwhacking is expected. I'm also going to check out some of the ULA packs.

Did Not Work for me:
Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn
Simblissity Inner Peace Bug Netting

I got the tarp and bugnetting fully setup but wound up sharing a 2P tent with a female on the trip which turned out to be a good thing. This morning I found both the inside and outside walls covered in water droplets from the dew. The front of the bug netting where my head would've been was also covered in water droplets. In all fairness, this was probably the worst environment a setup like this could be in as far as dew goes. The doublewall tent I was in stayed bone dry and it was even a cheap Walmart variety. I can't fairly say the tarp system failed because I don't think it did, it just won't work for me personally. I'm going to investigate some of the tarp tent or light doublewall tents out there for this part of my kit.

The grosgrain surrounded by the red box is what is pictured above.

I wish I had a macro lens but it looks to me like the stitching ripped through the fabric even though I wasn't carrying near load capacity. I did have the closure strap run through the grosgrain as opposed to on top of it and I think that lead to the failure. I'm going to email GG and see what they think.

Photos from the trip are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157602304814596/

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