On my last trip to the SNP in the freakish storm I learned a few things and have accordingly made some adjustments in my gear choices for an early April in the Smokeys. First I'll be leaving the silk weight base layer at home and taking my mid weight. Next I learned that although I can pitch my DIY six sided tarp with the edges to the ground and the back of it into the wind, the front two sides will still be 8 to 10 inches off the ground and some wind will swirl around to that side and bring with it rain/sleet/snow. So I had previously added a beak extension. I didn't want something permanent so I decided I would make some flaps tapering from 12" to 6" and attach them to the beak extension with velcro. This will leave 3 to 4 inches of extra material that I can turn into the tarp and instead of staking it to the ground just put my other hiking pole on top and my shoes/water bottle/rocks or whatever is handy. These flaps should make a big difference in windy storms. The other thing I learned is when it is cold your fingers will be fumbly and getting the tarp back into it's stuff sack can be difficult if you try to skimp too much on materials and make your stuff sacks too small. So I made a new one an 1" wider and an 1" longer.

TrafficJam wrote:

My most recent lesson learned? Put your boots on when you go pee in the middle of the night. Especially if you don't take a light and you're not sure if you're standing on a slope or not.

Ha Ha Ha that is funny. I can imagine you doing a little dance trying to get out of the way.