Two friends and I just spent 5 days in Yosemite, hiking from White Wolf through the Ten Lakes Basin, over Tuolumne Peak, and out via Murphy Creek. The scenery was stunningly beautiful. And I, still something of a newbie (though less of a newbie than my companions), learned a few things.

1. An extra 5 pounds in your pack makes an incredible difference in how hard it is to carry. Water sources were few and not always reliable, so I ended up carrying an extra 2.5 liters one day. It really made it obvious how much a few pounds can matter.

2. My ability to function tops out at around 9,500 feet. Up to that altitude, I noticed the lack of oxygen, but could compensate for it reasonably well; I just traveled even more slowly than usual. Above it, I had to walk as if I were 102 years old -- take a few slow steps, stop to catch breath, repeat. Even just standing up was a struggle. I grew up in the Rockies, but I'd not been over 7,000 feet or so in many years, and had no idea how well I would cope.

3. Perhaps I don't want to try a tarp after all. The zipper on my tent door failed, so I spent most of the trip with some large openings in my tent. I closed the rainfly, which kept most of the flying bugs out -- and unless those are really thick, they don't bother me that much. But some ants came to visit me in the night. They thought the inside of my sleeping bag was a fun place to explore. I disagreed, and they were summarily evicted. Fortunately they didn't invite all their friends to the party!

I had to do a field repair on the zipper to my old, small fanny pack last week on my vacation to Mono Creek drainage. I used it to store my new camera along with the usual wallet and car keys. I noticed the zipper to the larger pocket was separating, so that afternoon when I thought of it, I located a couple properly sized rocks as tools, as I had not a plier and pounded the zipper back into shape, worked great, just some paint loss and gouges on the zipper. I was slowly but not crawling up a few trails too, the hardest being the steep trail up to Laurel Lake and then onto Grinnell after a short break. All my nights except one were over 10,000'. The fishing made it worth it.
Duane

Hmmm, I'll have to try pinching the zipper slider a little before I give up on this tent completely. But if that doesn't work, it will only mean I have to think more seriously about a new shelter. I was going to wait until next year to replace it, but it has already been well worth the $35 it cost me (used, of course).

Edited by romonster on 08/12/2012 01:42:33 MDT.

I've pinched the zipper on my old Epperson pack too, unfortunately, I had pulled a tooth out on it trying to get the pack opened up, so that zipper is shot now, the rest of the length of the zipper worked fine after that, just too late. Time to sew it shut or other means.
Duane

Don't knock the idea of a tarp just yet - a breathable bivy is bug proof and, with a small tarp, your shelter system will still easily be less than a pound.