TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

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Wandering Daisy
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by Wandering Daisy »

The tent is the Tarptent Notch (regular sil-nylon, not the expensive UL cuben fiber). I thought I would give a trekking pole supported tent a try.

Set up is not always easy. Four points have to be absolutely solid or the tent falls down. I have to pre-determine if a stake can be pounded in; if not I have to adjust until I can find a better location. Since I am just learning how to set it up, I take 10 stakes so I can back up the four critical points and then have two for tying down the mid-points on the sides. I also have been putting large rocks on top of the stakes. The ground was really saturated when I was out, so I worried about the stakes popping out. I probably over-did it. But with all that backup it was very solid in the wind. To set it up myself in a wind, I have learned to stake down both ends, then lie my pack on the middle until I can get the trekking pole attached. And typical of all sil-nylon, when new, it is very slippery, complicating set up! My old Tarptent, the Moment, was easier to set up. It was also slippery at first but with time, became more manageable.

On thing I never thought about, that I do NOT like, is that the trekking pole is right in the middle of the side entries. That basically negates the advantage of a side entry. Being small, it is not too much of a problem for me, but I think a large guy would have problems. The tent overall is on the small side- great for me, but if you are 6-feet tall, your head would be at the low point- a bit claustrophobic. For me, I have a good 2-3 feet of extra space so my head is located a few feet towards the center (higher roof pitch). Although the trekking poles block the entrances, I have bumped into them and they stay solid, so I do not worry about knocking down the tent.

The tabs that attach the inner tent (mosquito netting and bathtub floor) are difficult to work- I am going to sew on different tabs. The mesh pockets do not hold stuff securely, so I am going to fix that too.

I found that stuffing the tent is a disaster- it gets all balled up and then you have a real puzzle to untangle. It is best to roll it up.

The end stays are just an inch too long for the tent to fit horizontally in my pack. I cannot put it in vertically because then the bear can does not fit. I think anyone with an men's pack would be fine. I have a woman's specific small pack, which are purposely made narrower. Now, I have to pack the tent in an outside pocket. I am not fond of this, because when x-country you can snag the tent when bushwhacking. My husband makes arrows for his archery, so he cut experimental stays from his old arrow shafts, and I am going to try those out at home. If they work, I will then cut the regular stays an inch. You can remove the stays, but it is a REAL pain to put it all together again. Disclosure here- I am not very good at putting stuff back together once it is take apart. For some people, it may not be a problem at all.

I had both doors half open and had no problems with condensation. Fixing the doors from inside the tent is hard for me because my arms are not long enough! A lot of these issues I have are typical of ANY trekking pole supported tent, not specifically a "flaw" of the Notch.

Second question- I throw the fish guts back in the lake. I take the bones (after cooking and eating) a good distance from my campsite then throw them in a bush. Little animals will find them quickly and finish them off. In fact, my last night, I left the bones on a rock while I walked down to the shore to take a photo, and when I came back, a little chipmunk at already run off with them.
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bobby49
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by bobby49 »

There must be a number of tents and shelters that use a single trekking pole for support to the apex of the tent. At least for mine, however, there is no rule that says that the pole must be purely vertical. I place the top of the pole into the apex, and then the bottom of the pole is at an angle toward whichever side I do not expect to use for entry or exit. The top of the shelter is kept taut by guyline tension.

Also, what kind of stakes are you using? Currently I use some long titanium wire stakes, and they are stiff enough that I can push them deeply into just about any ground. I could go with shorter titanium wire stakes that aren't so stiff, but they can bend.
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by Wandering Daisy »

I may try the slanted pole methods next. Right now I just want to keep things "standard" and see if I can get that to work. I carry many kinds of tent stakes, two channel types, two straight ones that go around rocks, two "star shaped" and the four smooth round UL ones that came with the tent. At Upper Golden Trout Lake I found a new very long round UL tent stake just lying on the ground, and added that to my collection. So far this year I have found a tent stake every trip!

Here are a few more photos;
0901_View back to Merriam_edited-1.jpg
920_frozen creeklet abovd L Lake_edited-1.jpg
0968_SE Humphreys Lake_edited-1.jpg
The campsite is center bottom on the north side of the little pond.
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robertseeburger
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by robertseeburger »

Nice shots! So many places to go here! Cant go wrong. Looks like fall crisp weather already.
I have camped at exactly the same places as you at Muriel Lake and Alsace Lake..
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bobby49
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by bobby49 »

Wandering Daisy wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 4:15 pm At Upper Golden Trout Lake I found a new very long round UL tent stake just lying on the ground, and added that to my collection. So far this year I have found a tent stake every trip!
Yes, I find an average of one stake on every trip. I guess I should do more trips. I also find money. I find an average of 37 cents on each trip. Another hundred years of that and I may be able to purchase more stakes. The coins are generally in old campsites.
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by rlown »

Who carries loose change into battle? :)
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bobby49
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by bobby49 »

I don't carry any in, but I do carry it out.
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by jeremiahkim »

Lovely photos Daisy. I recall an afternoon fishing and exploring Humphreys Lakes as one of my favorite days in the Sierra. Did not think to try my hand at Marmot. Thanks for taking me back!
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by Wandering Daisy »

The F&G map shows no fish in Marmot Lake, but fish in the other three lakes. I walked up to the lake to the north which is really one lake, not two like shown on the map but did not fish. I only fished the largest lake of the four, to the northwest. I would have loved to camped there but could not find a sheltered site that was level and smooth; I found a sheltered site at the pond on the ridge halfway to Marmot Lake. Surprisingly, it got fairly early morning sun.

On this trip I tried to camp places where I had not previously camped. I have passed Merriam Lake often but not stopped to spend time there. Same with L-Lake; previously had camped at Steelhead and French Lakes. In retrospect, I should have stayed at Alba Lake- much better camping. Never had been to Alsace; camped at Paris Lake years ago. I camped at some lake below Humphreys when I climbed it, but do not remember exactly which one. I recall we walked from Piute Pass along the lakes on the Fresno-Inyo county line. There are nice campsites down at Wahoo Lake 11183 but I wanted to day-hike to Lost Lakes and Goethe Lakes and Muriel Lake (which I have camped at before) is centrally located for both.

rlown- have you ever fished or camped down in the lower French Canyon? There is a continuous meadow along the creek. Probably a great area for hunting deer.
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Re: TR: North Lake Loop 9/5-12

Post by cgundersen »

WD,
Not to quibble, but your original plan looked hugely ambitious to me, and since I seldom see folk getting to Spearpoint, I was really curious how that worked out; but, alas, circumstances intervened, so we'll need to wait for that one. Nevertheless, the images you got were gorgeous, and barely recognizable compared with the conditions when Ian Harlen covered some of the same terrain earlier this Summer. Kudos for a great trip! cameron
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