TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

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FeetFirst
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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by FeetFirst »

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you for sharing this story. I'm curious to know if you think having an inner with a bathtub floor (70D silnylon w/ 4" tub) would have prevented or at least mitigated the flooding issues you experienced?

I ask because I've used an MLD Duomid (silnylon) a few times in the Sierra in conjuction with a Bear Paw Wilderness Designs single inner and have always felt that my shelter was up to snuff Spring - Fall . I've dealt with strong winds, heavy rain, and light snow and the inner net tent has kept all migrating precip out of my space. I'm now thinking hard about this situation and how my similar setup would do.

It sounds like you made the most out of the situation, but sometimes you just need the right tool for the job. Are you looking into changing your setup?

Thanks again for sharing.
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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by kpeter »

I am sure that it was not easy to make that original post. Thank you for having the courage to share your misadventure. It might save a life.

ps I think I recognize the approximate site of your camp, having camped in that area three or four times before. It gave me a "could have been me" moment.
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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by jfelectron »

Thanks all. It was helpful for me to go through and write it out. We can all learn a little.

Yeah, it was a used site which was likely part of the problem. Its a little bench maybe 50ft above the north shore. Pretty sandy from use. After a couple nights on slopped terrain, we were lulled by the flatness, but such initial comfort clearly came at a cost.

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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by Kris »

I have made that same mistake pitching my tent in a smallish pocket step like you guys did. Those little granite/sand basins are water catches when it rains, hence all the collected sand and gravel. My two person tent was tested big time in June last season (with my girlfriend on our first hike together) when it poured all night long, heavily -w/ lightning popping off around us all night. The floor seams on the tent (one I rarely use) leaked badly and we woke up in a pool of water. Moved the tent, upset girlfriend, etc, etc. Long story short it rained for 14 hours and I was stuck with a pissed off girlfriend in the tent. I knew it was supposed to storm. What i didn't factor in was the seam on my older sierra designs that i rarely used anymore. I mostly solo hike, or am with a friend who carries his own gear. All ended well though. Lesson learned! I have a snowy/frozen Thousand Island experience too. Not quite like yours though. Glad you made it back safely! :thumbsup:
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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by mokelumnekid »

Nothing new to add- what others said basically. The way that I deal with it is simply to carry a lot of robust gear (I can hear the collective groan from those of you who pluck the unnecessary bristles out of your toothbrush to save weight :p ). It is not that I'm old skool (okay maybe lazy) but that it reflects that I pack the same way for the Sierra as for North Cascades, Olympics, Wind River/Rockies, etc. And those places are guaranteed to deliver Biblical beat-downs if one doesn't have bomb-proof shelter. Yes folks that includes rain-pants which weigh about a dime, but can make a big difference in a day walking through wet brush or in a hard wind. I also carry a stove that will work in just about any conditions, and have been mighty glad for it too. So my pack simply sucks, too heavy. Seriously. But it hasn't stopped me yet. Over kill? Maybe lots of times in the Sierra. But then again I like the feeling that I am respecting the process of self sufficiency. I like the feeling that I am doing what I can to have my act together to deal with whatever, and be there to help others should the need arise. I'm no Norman Clyde with his epic packs, but I kind of lean that way.

BUT..having said all that I too have been suckered onto the sandy granite ledge with the great views (that's why they invented free-standing tents right?), only to discover in the driving rain that I am now camped in a growing lake... :crybaby:
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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by jessegooddog »

And that little furry dog had to have a role in keeping you all warm enough throughout the night!
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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by DoyleWDonehoo »

Lots of good advice here. Nothing like a sketchy experience to rearrange your priorities. Two comments:
1) Bathtub bottom tent. I abandoned tarp-tenting long ago, and my die-hard tarp-tenting pard finally gave them up for a lite bathtub bottom tent (after some bad experiences). I have two one-man tents each weighing 1 pound, and they both have built-in bathtub bottoms.
2) Make sure the bathtub bottoms are water-tight before you go on a trip! Two years ago I got caught in an all night storm and found out the hard way that the bathtub had a hole in it.
Many years ago I woke up one morning after a hard rain and found out my tent was in a pool of water! But no water got inside my tent.
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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by jfelectron »

Yes certainly all floors are not created equal. Many silnylon floors will seep water when bodyweight s applied to them. When using a single wall shelter with sil floor its important to know what its limits are. I have a tarptent, but I didn't bring it because the beaks don't provide enough coverage for angled driving rain. The pyramid tarp is full coverage but has no protection against flooding. So yeah I'm considering other lightweight 2p shelters.

Jonathan

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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Last summer I got caught in a severe storm in Gardiner Basin. (It rained 4 inches in 1 hour at Cedar Grove, I was told by the ranger). I too thought my spot was good drainage - I actually looked carefully for good drainage. I too got flooded and the floor of my Tarptent Moment seeped water. What saved me was that I have spent months on end in the Wind Rivers where severe storms are normal. I anchored my tent with HUGE rocks. The minute the storm appeared to be severe, I stuffed my sleeping bag and put it inside a waterproof garbage bag, put on my warm clothes and rain pants and jacket and sat in a ball position inside the tent, on top of my sleeping pad. I sat it out until the rain stopped. By then I had several inches of water under the tent. Then I got out in the dark and used my handy sponge and spent an hour removing water from under the tent and digging drainage trenches. All that work kept me warm. By the time I got the water out the clouds lifted and the moon was out! After the storm passed it got below freezing and everything turned to ice. But I still had a nice warm dry sleeping bag.

Not all Ultra-light equipment is the best in severe conditions. Silicon coated nylon (used in the Tarptents) is NOT waterproof, it leaks under certain pressures, such as a person's weight on the floor of a tent. I have some UL stuff, but am not sold on going totally UL. I like to have a mountaineering style rain jacket. I always have one layer of wool that is warm when wet. My down sweater is a luxury - a nice thing for chilly mornings, but I do not count on it as a reliable foul weather layer.

I think you can get by most of the time with UL in the Sierra. I am always surprised when people say they have never been in severe storms in the Sierra. I think they just have not been out enough. I have had a week of lousy weather in the Sierra. I honestly think if you go 100% Ultra Light, and if you are out enough, you will get into an epic condition eventually.

I am glad all turned out OK. I think a lot of people are mis-judging the weather due to the low snow year. It is really tempting to think it is July!

By the way, I have never had a warm-blooded furry dog to keep me warm. Does it work?
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Re: TR: Rush Creek to Thousand Island and some words of caution

Post by mokelumnekid »

WD: A sponge, what a great idea. I also carry a few garbage bags as back-up in case the inner fortress gets breached. And of course full rain gear, FULL.

And thinking back on my years in Boy Scouts in the mid-1960's where we would go for week long back pack trips in the central Sierra (Ebbetts-Sonora Pass areas) with NO shelter or rain gear, other than a army surplus half-tarp ground sheet (no sleeping pad either) and somehow never had any major disasters! A few squalls, but that was it. Nothing that a roaring fire couldn't fix (we camped at about 7,000'-8,000'). We typically went in July, before major thunder storms or monsoon seasons. Maybe that was the fix?
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