Cool camping

[hwc1954]

Back from three days of camping and hiking in the White Mountains. Leaves just beginning to turn. Bright blue sky. Full moon. Not a cloud to be seen. Little chilly at night, though. Down in the mid 30s Tuesday night. Probably around 40 last night. I measured 39 degrees inside my tent.

I had the campground practically to myself. I saw one other tent camper and two or three pop-up or trailer campers. That was it. I couldn't see any other camper from my site. Quite a change from summer!

Took the Marmot Halo 4P for the maiden run with the new cot and DreamTime mattress. Fantastic. The cot is a little bit of pain in the butt to set up and get into the tent (it's easier to set up outside), but, boy is it nice to be able to sit up and not spend every minute crawling around on the floor of the tent. Getting dressed and organizing gear is SO much more comfortable.

Also took my new foam pads for the floor. Three closed cell foam pads that more or less line the entire floor. Super nice on the knees.

Was plenty warm. I had two sleeping bags, which I used as blankets. I used a 40 degree down bag, but had a heavier down bag over my feet up to my knees at the ready if I needed it. Didn't need it, but it kept my feet warm. I slept in powerstretch fleece pants and hoodie. One thing that helped was a thin, baselayer weight balaclava. Thin enough to breath thru, but let my cover my nose without burying my head in the sleeping bag.

The tent is all mesh in ceiling and top half of the doors. I left the low vent along the side of the tent by my feet open, but closed the one along the side next to my head Zero condensation. Good ventilation plus the benefit of a large tent relative to the number of lungs huffing and puffing water vapor all night.

[Mike]

Re: Cool camping

Groovy, man. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Gdawgs]

Re: Cool camping

Sounds awesome. I love the weather this time of year. I much prefer a 30-40 degree night than a humid 80 degree night. Sweet tent!!

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Cool camping

what kelty tarp is that?

[hwc1954]

Re: Cool camping

It's a Kelty Noah's Tarp 12.

12 ft by 12 ft, about 16 or 17 feet along the diagonal ridge line. It's pretty easy for one person to put up. Just about the perfect size for covering a picnic table or a small cooking/sitting area or a tent. You really only need two poles (or two trees) to pitch it. The second pair of short poles I use eliminates the need for long guylines to the ground to get height on the side wings. I didn't need the tarp at all, but half the fun is setting up camp and every time I pitch it, I get a little better at it.

I love the weather this time of year. I much prefer a 30-40 degree night than a humid 80 degree night.

I'd be happy with 50 degrees at night!

The Halo 4 is an awesome "4-person" tent. They also make a gigantic 6 person tent. It's Marmot's most substantial of the three 4-man tents they make. Pretty solid structure. The Halo pole that wraps around the tent gives it nearly vertical sidewalls. That very long Alaskan Guide Cot was not touching on either end. 5 feet tall in the middle, so not quite tall enough to stand up, but close enough that you can stand to get dressed.

[ppine]

Re: Cool camping

Fall is by far the best season in Nevada and the Sierras. We leave next week for a canoe trip on the Sacramento River in search of king salmon, a week in early Oct trout fishing in the mountains, and a week in late October over on the Coast in the redwoods.

We will have frost at the house in the next ten days.

[Tracker]

Re: Cool camping

I have that same cot and love sleeping on that instead of the ground.
Did you stay at a private campground or a state?

That site looks real nice , I'm planning on a stay at Hancock campground on the Kancamagus first of October.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Cool camping

Nice looking setup you have there!
Did you find it comfy sleeping on the mattress atop the cot?

[hwc1954]

Re: Cool camping

Yeah. The DreamTime pad on the cot was super-comfortable. It's a 30 inch wide pad with both layers of a cheapo rectangular sleeping bag on top of it like a "pillow top". It's comfortable on the ground or on the cot. It's like sleeping on a bed.

I went with the Cabelas cot because, at 82 in x 32 in, it's big enough for the DreamTime mattress.

It is so nice to be able sit up on the cot and not spend every minute in the tent on the ground. So much easier to change clothes or organize stuff in a duffle bag, etc. Once the thing is inside the tent, it actually frees up space because there's room underneath. Lugging it and setting it up is a bit of a pain. I probably wouldn't do it for a single overnight, but definitely for a multi-day stay.