Solo shelter advice, JMT and beyond

[Chris K]

Thanks everyone for the additional input.

Sounds like we could see massive mosquito pressure, or be slightly outside it. And we could also get an intense storm, or not. Like most mountain trips I guess… In any event my preference is to sleep under the stars, so I think I’ll pick up a bivy and see if it works for me this Spring. If not I can always sell it and bring the net-tent I currently own.

After reading your replies and thinking more about this, the 8 x 10 seems like the bigger decision. I can pitch it storm tight but this takes me what feels like eternity. Basically I need to get better and learn to love it, or switch to something shaped.

Anyone here still use a Gatewood Cape?

[Matthew / BPL]

Yes! Storm pitch on a big flat tarp gets too complicated for my taste.

There are plenty of Deschutes/Gatewood users ‘round these parts. You’d be hard pressed to find a more cost-effective solution that provides 360°-ish coverage.

[Miner]

A few advantages to cowboy camping or using a bivy when the bugs are out in the Sierra.  One, because you aren’t sheltered from the sunlight, your body tends to adjust quickly into a natural circadian rhythm and tend to wake up with the sun.  Those annoying mosquitoes that left soon after 9pm as the temperatures cooled off (and in fact, in warmer weather I’ll open up my bivy and sleep that way all night), will start to come back in small numbers around dawn.  Their annoying high pitch whining noise near your ear wakes me right up and gives me the motivation to get moving fast before their friends join in any numbers. So I’m able to change clothes and pack up without being swarmed. In a tent, they are too far from your ears to hear well and you are more shaded from the sun so you tend to sleep in later and thus get swarmed when you finally get up. I fully give credit to the Mosquitoes for helping me to maintain a 19.8 mpd pace through the High Sierra section of the PCT in late June/early July when snow still covered the passes.  I’d get up a little before 6:30am and be on the trail before 7am (cowboy camps pack up quick), take a short break every 2 hours and a 1 hour lunch break, and hike till 7:30-7:50pm and be in bed by 8:30-9:00pm.

In fall of 2017, there weren’t any mosquitoes to motivate me and I took a bit longer to hike the JMT in late September/early October (averaging 17.8mpd seeing snow only on Donahue and Silver Passes that was from a storm that hit just as I started). Though only training for 150 miles over the 2 months prior vs over 700 miles when I hiked the PCT may have also contributed just a tiny bit.

[Chris K]

Miner, that is one seriously generous attitude toward mosquitos!

[David Sugeno]

Anyone here still use a Gatewood Cape?

I just got back from a 4 night trip to the Guadalupe Mountains using my new Gatewood Cape.  I was, frankly, impressed with it, though it felt pretty cramped compared to the Duplex or the 8×10 tarp I usually carry.  A few caveats, though.  I carried it knowing that I was unlikely to need it as a poncho.  It would never have worked in that capacity, the tight brush on the overgrown trails would have ripped it to pieces, plus the winds out there are typically so high that I don’t think it would have worked well as rain gear.  Also, of course, I knew there would not be any bugs this time of year.  I was impressed at how well it stood up to some pretty strong winds as a shelter, but when the wind shifted direction (and it did), it could cause some problems, especially if it was blowing directly on the front of the tarp.  I don’t know how well-maintained the trails are on the JMT, but for a hike of this duration where strong rains seem likely, I would think you would be better off to carry dedicated, lightweight rain gear and a Deschutes Plus Tarp, which has a similar configuration but is slightly larger and provides some nominal bug protection.

[Chris K]

@davesugeno – good to know, thanks for sharing your experience. I take it you didn’t also carry a bivy?

From what I understand, the JMT is free of brush and well-maintained, unless it’s covered in snow. With our June start we could be in that scenario.

[David Sugeno]

@davesugeno – good to know, thanks for sharing your experience. I take it you didn’t also carry a bivy?

That’s correct.  No bivy, no Serenity Net Tent, so I can’t speak to how it would be with either of those options.

From what I understand, the JMT is free of brush and well-maintained, unless it’s covered in snow.

If that is the case, the Gatewood Cape might actually function reasonably well for rain protection, in which case it would give you a significant weight savings.  I would probably experiment with using something to serve as a sash for windy conditions.

[Author]

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