So if you watched my recent trip video “White Mountains, New Hampshire” you probably saw the clip of my kids hanging in their hammocks and my tarp and bivy set up wonky on the downward side of the mountain with a curved tree trunk leaning down on me. This was what we had to work with at sunset, after a hard day hiking and at the tail end of a wicked thunder storm with torrential down pours. Yes the hammocks were ideal in this spot and yes I was envious of them both on this night. However, I was able to make it work just fine and I actually had a great nights sleep comfortably and 100% dry, even though it looked dreadful. Perhaps I was that tired and beat down from the long day and the weather? That is possible, but regardless, I slept a solid 9 hours cozy as can be. I actually used my larger tarp on this trip, Borah Gear 7×9 Silpoly tarp because I knew it was going to rain long and hard and I was hiking with 2 of my kids. So I figured carry the larger tarp in case it was raining and we wanted to hang out together to eat lunch/dinner or chit chat at camp before sleeping. Well, honestly, none of that happened except the rain!! We were all exhausted by the time we finished setting up camp and went right to sleep in our own “homes”. The tarp is BIG as I always use the smaller 5.8 × 9 solo tarp and find that one to be just about perfect. I would not hesitate to use the 7×9 again on trips I would be expecting lots of rain as the coverage is plenty, especially using an eVent bivy.. which I could have easily used a regular ” splash” bivy.. But since the forecast was calling for possible flooding I wanted to make sure I stayed dry as possible.. Not an ideal location but one of the many reasons I love using a tarp is exactly this.. I can always find a spot and make it work, as long as my body can lay in a spot. Sure the tree was in my way and I was kind of on a slope but the tarp pitched perfectly around the tree and kept me dry through a rainy evening. Check out the pictures..
