High Winds Rolled Tent in Desert
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 11:43 am
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Our weekend ended with some excitement that I think some of you can relate to:
>
> I thought we had a pretty good holiday. Nice family gathering at our place, good eating, etc on Thursday. On Friday, my wife and I then went for a 3 day backpacking trip out in the desert in Joshua Tree National Park, to find a quiet spot in the backcountry to relax and enjoy being out. We had enjoyed some day hikes in the area out of the Upper Covington trailhead so we had planned to make this a simple backpacking out & back trip originating from there.
>
> We had prepped a lot of the gear throughout the week and still left a bit late Friday morning. After getting stuck in lousy traffic (overturned big rig) we got to the trailhead at sundown. Not to be held back, we hiked quickly until just before dark to find a suitable spot to stop for the night. Enjoyed some star gazing and listening to the competing packs of coyotes in the hills nearby.
>
> Saturday morning was peaceful and quiet, only Sue and I in the whole area, lots of sunshine and pleasant temps. We moved on to new site a couple miles more down the trail, up on the side of a valley to enjoy the view and the afternoon sun.
>
> All was going well until Saturday night, after dinner and happy hour, after the sun went down when the wind picked up, from a gentle breeze to steady 20-30 knots out of nowhere.
>
> Windy conditions there are not unusual but this time the wind got stronger by the hour, building gust by gust. At one point our little tent was laying across our bodies as the wind blew strongly. Then a gust came along and rolled our tent with us and all our clothes, boots, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, etc. in it so that after we tumbled we ended up laying on the roof of the tent. Tent stakes pulled, and tent poles bent.
>
> Everything went everywhere. That was at about 1 am. We spent the
> rest of the night clutching the flattened flapping tent tightly over our heads, sprawled in our bags, in order for it to not fill with wind on the next gust and roll us into the nearby ravine. We had to shout to hear eachother for the wind roared so loudly.
>
> With a wind chill near freezing or below we waited and waited for the sun to rise or for the winds to die before trying to piece our gear back together, find our clothes and boots, etc in the tent. This was a long night. Plenty of time to ponder the many ways in which it could turn worse as well as how to avoid that from happening. I figured we were best off staying put, in our bags inside this wildly flapping nylon sack in the dark waiting it out.
>
> When the sun came up the winds still blew strongly but we managed to get dressed, packed (didn't lose any gear, I can't believe it!) and then hiked 4 miles back to the car at the trailhead, which was 15 miles in on a dirt road. Then on to a coffee shop in Yucca Valley for a well deserved hot breakfast since it was too windy for us to use our stove at the campsite in order to have something hot to eat or drink.
>
Our nerves were shattered after all that. All's well that ends well. Once back on the freeway I was able to figure we must have been in gusts up to 70 mph or more, based on the scientific hand-out-the-window test.
>
Home never looked better. Slept like a rock last night. Looking forward to next time.
If anyone has any suggestions as to what we might have done differently I would appreciate hearing. Maybe a more sheltered site might have helped some, or maybe collapsing the tent earlier? Ideas anyone?
Thanks for sharing,
Dan
>
> I thought we had a pretty good holiday. Nice family gathering at our place, good eating, etc on Thursday. On Friday, my wife and I then went for a 3 day backpacking trip out in the desert in Joshua Tree National Park, to find a quiet spot in the backcountry to relax and enjoy being out. We had enjoyed some day hikes in the area out of the Upper Covington trailhead so we had planned to make this a simple backpacking out & back trip originating from there.
>
> We had prepped a lot of the gear throughout the week and still left a bit late Friday morning. After getting stuck in lousy traffic (overturned big rig) we got to the trailhead at sundown. Not to be held back, we hiked quickly until just before dark to find a suitable spot to stop for the night. Enjoyed some star gazing and listening to the competing packs of coyotes in the hills nearby.
>
> Saturday morning was peaceful and quiet, only Sue and I in the whole area, lots of sunshine and pleasant temps. We moved on to new site a couple miles more down the trail, up on the side of a valley to enjoy the view and the afternoon sun.
>
> All was going well until Saturday night, after dinner and happy hour, after the sun went down when the wind picked up, from a gentle breeze to steady 20-30 knots out of nowhere.
>
> Windy conditions there are not unusual but this time the wind got stronger by the hour, building gust by gust. At one point our little tent was laying across our bodies as the wind blew strongly. Then a gust came along and rolled our tent with us and all our clothes, boots, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, etc. in it so that after we tumbled we ended up laying on the roof of the tent. Tent stakes pulled, and tent poles bent.
>
> Everything went everywhere. That was at about 1 am. We spent the
> rest of the night clutching the flattened flapping tent tightly over our heads, sprawled in our bags, in order for it to not fill with wind on the next gust and roll us into the nearby ravine. We had to shout to hear eachother for the wind roared so loudly.
>
> With a wind chill near freezing or below we waited and waited for the sun to rise or for the winds to die before trying to piece our gear back together, find our clothes and boots, etc in the tent. This was a long night. Plenty of time to ponder the many ways in which it could turn worse as well as how to avoid that from happening. I figured we were best off staying put, in our bags inside this wildly flapping nylon sack in the dark waiting it out.
>
> When the sun came up the winds still blew strongly but we managed to get dressed, packed (didn't lose any gear, I can't believe it!) and then hiked 4 miles back to the car at the trailhead, which was 15 miles in on a dirt road. Then on to a coffee shop in Yucca Valley for a well deserved hot breakfast since it was too windy for us to use our stove at the campsite in order to have something hot to eat or drink.
>
Our nerves were shattered after all that. All's well that ends well. Once back on the freeway I was able to figure we must have been in gusts up to 70 mph or more, based on the scientific hand-out-the-window test.
>
Home never looked better. Slept like a rock last night. Looking forward to next time.
If anyone has any suggestions as to what we might have done differently I would appreciate hearing. Maybe a more sheltered site might have helped some, or maybe collapsing the tent earlier? Ideas anyone?
Thanks for sharing,
Dan