You can certainly maximize your chances of finding a suitable footprint by opting for the more popular campsites (think Little Yosemite Valley, Woods Creek Crossing, Guitar Lake, etc.). This means walking past some other desirable places to camp. It’s a trade-off.
Good suggestion by Ken to do a mock up.
For anecdata: I’ve had a Hexamid in 0.51 oz/yd weight since 2013. When I purchased it, it was an “experiment”; I was skeptical of the durability of cuben, and mentally treated the tarp as a “consumable” item–if I got a few seasons out of it, that would be acceptable to me. Fast-forward to 2016–a few tens of nights and 500 miles or so later–and there’s no sign of wear. The cuben stuff sack that came with it, however, has worn through in a few spots. The stuff sack is 0.34 oz/yd weight, I believe.
I paid $260 for the Hexamid tarp at the time. I wouldn’t have been willing to run that experiment with a $699 tent.
If it were me, I’d probably go with 0.74 oz/yd on the Triplex. A hole in a $260 tarp means I spend another $260. A hole in a $699 tent means I spent another $699. Durability becomes increasingly valuable the larger the dollar value of the item. I’m a total gram counter, but the weight penalty is not significant to move up to 0.74 oz/yd (2.5 oz per ZPacks’ website).
Good luck and have fun! I have a one-month old son and an almost 3 year old son. I hope to be in your shoes in a decade!
