I will be doing my SOBO JMT trip in late August this year. Being from Western Washington and having most of my backcountry experience in this cool, wet state, my expereinces with cowboy camping is always waking up with a bit of a wet bag from the dew.

My question is, will I have the same experience when I cowboy camp this summer in the Sierra? My hunch is you will all tell me the dry air will keep me mostly dry most mornings (of course assuming clear and rain free nights).

Can anyone let me know what I may expect in the way of morning moisture?

Thanks!

Kris,

we started last summer on July 24th on our three week SOBO JMT hike. During these three weeks we used our tents twice - otherwise we cowboy camped.

Due to our site selection close to water - we like to fish - we had from time to time some dew on our sleeping bags in the mornings. But it was no problem for us, since we started pretty late in the mornings (mainly because my teenage sons like to sleep in) and our sleeping bags got every morning plenty of time to dry.

Enjoy your hike!

Manfred

Edited by Orienteering on 05/10/2011 09:58:59 MDT.

I've definitely had morning dew in the Sierras. Nice thing is, you can pack your bag damp, bust it out at lunch, and it dries in 5 minutes.

"Can anyone let me know what I may expect in the way of morning moisture?"

A lot depends on where you camp. If you stay away from water and don't camp on valley floors or in forested areas, you'll have a better chance of avoiding morning dew, along with bugs, people, AND bears.

"If you stay away from water and don't camp on valley floors or in forested areas, you'll have a better chance of avoiding morning dew, along with bugs, people, AND bears."

No bears? What would be the fun in that?

--B.G.--