Tarp vs tent & clothes system for mid June low snow year high Sierra 2022

[Todd G]

I’m planning a big month+ Off trail trip mid June-mid July at least essentially from southern sequoia to northern Yosemite/toiyabe. I normally use a strasophire 2 li for my tent in most conditions but am considering bringing a tarp, bathtub and s2s nano net. I’m struggling to predict the conditions and have never tarp camped before despite having lots of experience backpacking over 20+ years. Last year I was in sequoia in the first days of June and snow was nonexistent and bugs awful. I imagine there will be varied conditions across that huge stretch so my instinct is to be prepared for all and just pack a lighter tent due to bug pressure. In general I lean towards enjoying not having to think about it. I’m not one of those people who doesn’t mind bugs on my face or sleeps through anything.

secondly how about clothing? For summer and fall I have it dialed in but don’t want to underestimate early season out of ignorance. I’m inclined to bring my puffy and leave my mid layer but prob bring my silk base layer for sleep (keep the bag clean 8oz). I’m a very very cold sleeper and use a ff 20deg bag

Anyone with experience in early season trips in similar years? Or perspectives more broadly

[Paul Wagner]

The longer you’re in the Sierra, the more likely you’ll see extreme conditions.  If you ve done trips in the fall, the conditions will be similar, but with more bugs, higher creeks, and more flowers.

Ive had all kinds of weather in this time period: heat waves, a solid week of thunderstorms, mosquitoes from hell,  gale force winds, snow, hail, and perfect weather for days.

Over the course of a month, you should plan for it all.

[Mudjester]

I’d bring the strat, if that’s what you already like, as Paul notes, you could get anything. Esp. if you hate skeeters and sleep cold; even though it will likely be warm. Your summer kit oughta do it. The other way to keep the bag clean is daily dips in lakes & streams. A ltwt towel rather than pjs is one of my luxury items.

[jscott]

I agree with the others. June is usually awful for mosquitos. It’s also a month that tends to see a good amount of thunderstorm activity. Moisture sweeping up from the gulf of Mexico onto the east side can drive a week or more of all day and night lightning and rain. Or, the weather could be perfect!

I’ve adopted the ‘bring my puffy and leave a midlayer at home to compensate for its weight’ philosophy. I almost never hike in any layers during summer in the Sierra. But I might put on my puffy soon after setting up camp in the afternoon. I run cold.

[Steve Thompson]

A tarp anytime in the Sierra is fine IF…

Factors to consider:  in June, bugs.  You will want some kind of netting or bug bivy to deal with them.  Storms.   Not just rain, but storms.  You’ll want something large enough that you can batten down to manage gale force winds and rain torrents, and have some room for you to maneuver and gear. (And know how to batten it down) 8’x10’ ish does that for me.  You’ll need hiking poles, or carry poles for the tarp.  Some kind of ground cloth or bivy with wp bottom.

When you add up the required pieces it may not be much lighter than your strato.

Me, I generally cowboy camp on top of my bug bivy, or if buggy I slip inside.  I like the feeling of being outside.  The tarp goes up only if raining or the inreach forecast says rain, maybe 10% of the nights.  With a tent, you’ll end up maybe half the time needing it because of bugs.

So no recommendation, just things to consider.  I like cowboy camping so tarp is best for me. If you prefer a roof most nights I’d go with the tent.

[jscott]

One more thing: Sierra soil tends to be thin, especially at altitude. Or nonexistent. So if there’s a torrential t-storm, ground water just runs off over the surface. In a flood. I like a bathtub floor in those conditions.

[Steve Thompson]

Agree there.  Groundcloth +  tarp can be worthless on the wrong site.  A bivy provides margin for the wet.

To provide bombproof protection the tarp setup won’t save much weight vs say a zpacks duplex. (Though maybe cost a bit less)

I think it really comes down to whether you want a roof overhead most nights or not.

[Todd G]

I think you all have convinced me to stick with my tent. Weight was the main appeal. I have a dcf large hammock tarp 5.5oz and was thinking of rigging a dcf bathtub with s2s nano net which would end up around 11oz. But laying it all out there I think I’m better off with something more storm worthy for that length of time with much of it above 10k. Thanks!

[Todd G]

Quick update. During the first week I had 30mph sustained winds, 60+mph gusts, sub 20 deg weather above 12k, multiple sustained rain/ice/snow and thunder storms throughout the day. Most days the highs were in the 40-50s. I started in 30-40s every day around 5am. I ended up bringing full rain gear, mid layer, and polar etc gloves. I used every item every single day both to hike and for warmth at night. I do regret not having rain mittens as during the rain/snow storm my gloves got soaked and barehanded was too brutal. Having an actual baselayer top instead of an extra shirt would have been good when I was soaked hiding from the storm too. I should have brought an extra set of warm socks as my sleep/cold socks became soaked too. A good lesson/reminder that the sierras aren’t stable tropical places even with climate change!

[R L]

^ That’s a whole lot of info in nine posts.  Paints a nice picture.  ~RL

[jscott]

Sounds like you were out in the very rare rain event we had here two weeks or so back. If it’s any consolation, that was a record breaker for this time of year here in the flatlands. Or was it monsoon moisture coming in from the east?

[Todd G]

It was actually just the past week. I think it was a northern storm that weirdly blew south no? Learning experience!

[HkNewman]

.. 30mph sustained winds, 60+mph gusts..

That type weather hit quite a bit during the previous 2 months in Southern California if that helps.  A number of shelters,  from framed tents getting their poles snapped to single walled DCF shelters tearing at their reinforcements, .. there’s been a lot of calls for customer service from California this year ..vs the thousands out backpacking of course.

Think this will be known as the “Year That Blew” for some hikers..

[jscott]

“I think it was a northern storm that weirdly blew south no?”

I was thinking of the storm over June 4th and following. Obviously there was another as well!
the Sierra are HIGH! those storms really get your attention, between the lightning right there and the sleet and everything else. You don’t want to make a mistake because there aren’t always safe places to pitch a tent at altitude; so you slog on, and if your rain gear (or later, your tent!) fails you’re concerned about hypothermia of all things.

Or similar situations.

[Sam Farrington]

“Over the course of a month, you should plan for it all.”
Paul,
So glad to hear someone say this, especially about ‘sunny CAL’, and especially with experience with the locale. And Todd’s follow up reinforces your approach. Thanks.

[Todd G]

Oh! I forgot one aspect (all this for posterity in case someone seeks similar info in future years). Camped at an exposed alpine lake at 12kish there was a night of wind, nothing crazy as far as I’m concerned. I researched it and tried to find a boulder blocking the wind but it was still mildly windy. I had to set up the stratosphire li on rocks only and space was limited so somewhat sloppy. I slept fine and with the guidelines up the situation was loud but very stable. I heard from multiple hikers the following day they couldn’t sleep because their tents repeatedly blew over. Site selection and tent stability are things!

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