Going Tentless

[DrNed]

I'm doing an overnighter this weekend with my adult daughters.

When I camp in the desert now I go 100% no shelter. Tarp. Pad. Bag. Beautiful skies.

I want to try the same in the mountains, but I'm a little more hesitant.

Being just an overnighter I'm trying to talk myself into doing this weekend,
get a little taste and experience.

Is there anyone who does this regularly and what are your experiences? Pros? Cons?

I have ENO hammock I'm tempted to try sleeping in and I have a tarp I could set up
just to keep off any rain if necessary.

Anyways, I would love to hear advice from the experts. Thanks!

 

[Deleted User]

Mountains create their own weather. I would have at least a UL tarp to post up under because like Sunday, storms move fast and it can rain hard in just minutes out there. Sunday was forecasted to be dry and sunny when we left on Friday. Probably one of the most violent thunderstorms I have experienced in a couple of years out there. Dime sized hail and just a torrential downpour. That would have really sucked if that came in over night and I had no rain shelter. I would do the hammock/tarp at least. After living in Denali in 2005, I never go without dry shelter and proper rain gear. I'd cut down how many beers and whiskey I pack just so those items always fit. That is asking a lot for me to sacrifice, so you now know how important avoiding hypothermia is to me.

 

[Nick]

I'm with you on this, Ned. Out of my 30-ish bag nights so far this year, I've only slept in a tent for one of them, but the mountains still usually make me want a tent. My biggest complaint is usually that one mosquito who is still alive that comes and bites every one of your knuckles and your eyebrows first thing in the morning. But my Green River trip weekend before last started with a night in the Uintas and I went no tent and was happy and comfortable. Same for the following two nights on the river, but the second night I slept right in the sand and woke up in the morning with some sort of sand fly bites all over my arm and hand. Should have put a tarp down...

 

[DrNed]

Dime sized hail and just a torrential downpour.

That's the reason why no shelter just doesn't work in the mountains.

 

[DrNed]

sand fly bites all over my arm and hand.

I HATE FLIES. Maybe even more than mosquitos.

 

[Nick]

Yeah, especially the ones you can't see! The deer flies were kind of annoying on that trip too. They always waited until you had both hands on the oars to attack.

 

[SKLund]

I would get a tent. One person if you can stand it. The reasons follow:

--it gives you the option of camping in more places. The footprint is small in many places, especially in creek drainages and anywhere the vertical relief is high.
--Bugs. They will kick your butt. Horses around? Flies. The there are noseeums, cedar gnats, and mosquitos. Tent with netting works best.

--I argue against simple shelters like pyramids and tarps because of condensation. Summer in the Rockies are wet. Lot's of grass. Sometimes you just have to camp on grass, there is no avoiding it try as you might. I have gotten soaked from condensation in a pyramid with no floor.

In conclusion, I think you will find that most people who backpack a lot use tents.

 

[Deleted User]

I would get a tent. One person if you can stand it. The reasons follow:

--it gives you the option of camping in more places. The footprint is small in many places, especially in creek drainages and anywhere the vertical relief is high.
--Bugs. They will kick your butt. Horses around? Flies. The there are noseeums, cedar gnats, and mosquitos. Tent wit netting works best.

--I argue against simple shelters like pyramids and tarps because of condensation. Summer in the Rockies are wet. Lot's of grass. Sometimes you just have to camp on grass, there is no avoiding it try as you might. I have gotten soaked from condensation in a pyramid with no floor.

In conclusion, I think you will find that most people who backpack a lot use tents.

After getting a pretty nasty spider bite a few years ago just using a tarp, I now always take the tent body with me. Not sure what I got bit by, but needed antibiotics and it was pretty awful.

 

[Wyatt Carson]

I'm a little jealous of those who can go tentless, wish I could.

Even in the most desolate places we camp I've seen many spiders and scorpions come out in the waning light and in the dark with my headlamp catching them.

That and these are just a very few of the reptiles we have come across and they like to hunt at night...

baby Mojave Green, a real beauty, found about 20 yards from our camp...

a rare Tiger rattler on a route we take pretty often, laying under a ragweed plant...

Blacktail we came upon near a creek that was not far from our camp and he was not too happy about us at all which is common with them...

a Midge Faded on the other side of a small mesa from our camp in southern Utah once. We also had to step over one in Peekaboo slot once...

We have seen many more and some up to 7500' in the mountains. Those two were just about all black. A few ounces of nylon and mesh go a long way imo... LOL

 

[slc_dan]

Great snake photos!

Snakes don't want to attack sleeping people though, it's just not in their predatory nature. As for spiders and such, It is a risk, but falling asleep, or waking up in the middle of the night to a clear sky of stars is worth a few bites. More than worth it.

 

[SKLund]

Great snake photos!

Snakes don't want to attack sleeping people though, it's just not in their predatory nature. As for spiders and such, It is a risk, but falling asleep, or waking up in the middle of the night to a clear sky of stars is worth a few bites. More than worth it.

You can always bring the tent and sleep out if you can. Just did that in the South San Juans until the rain came in at 1:00 AM. Then ran for the tent.

 

[Wyatt Carson]

Snakes don't want to attack sleeping people though, it's just not in their predatory nature. As for spiders and such, It is a risk, but falling asleep, or waking up in the middle of the night to a clear sky of stars is worth a few bites. More than worth it.

I actually agree on both accounts. But I have heard that there are times that snakes seek warmth. Hate to roll over on one and get its dander up... LOL that and there are times when we have seen them very close to camp like the Mojave Green and they have venom that is pretty powerful. Getting paranoid I guess. Tents keep the rodents away too and they seem to really be drawn to camp even in the remote places.

I have cowboy camped quite a bit so I get it, (100 nights the year when I was 16 and lots since then too) didn't even have a tent for years when I first started. On that recent era Paria Plateau/ White Pocket trip we left our tent and as many things as possible on our 10 mile hike through the deep sand, up and down, up and down... cowboy camped at White Pocket and it is a cheerful way to do it. It was windy and I collected a few medium rocks to hold down my ground tarp we were laying on. I picked up one rock and there was a big green scorpion under it a few feet from the tarp (lots of that stuff on other trips too). We decided that we missed our tent... LOL and our light weight chairs we stargaze from...

 

[Venchka]

You can always bring the tent and sleep out if you can. Just did that in the South San Juans until the rain came in at 1:00 AM. Then ran for the tent.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be there next weekend. The tent will be handy.
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."