Terra Rosa Gear - Tyvek Wandering Tarp
I am raffling off the Terra Rosa Tyvek Wandering Tarp I reviewed on Monday. This is a very high quality ultralight backpacking tarp that only weighs 5.2 ounces. The deadline to enter is this Sunday, November 13th, at midnight (EST).
Rules
To enter, you need leave a comment below, describing your favorite hiking or backpacking trip from the previous year. It doesn’t have to be an expedition or a bucket list hike. Just tell us where you went, who you went with, and why you had such a good time.
An Example
My favorite hike this year (it is hard to choose) was an overnight trip I did climbing up Mt Jefferson in the White Mountains up the picturesque Castle Trail and then camping at The Perch Campsite on Mt Adams. It was cold and windy, but I ran into some friends on the summit of Jefferson and we had good sun all weekend.
Submit your entry in the comment form below and a winner will be randomly selected from the entrants. This raffle is open to anyone with a postal address, worldwide.
The winner will be announced next Monday (in the comments section of this post).
Most Popular Searches
- tyvek tarp
- ?terra rosa tyvek tarp
- ultralight hiking tarp
My favorite hike this year was a two day solo hike through the Pfalzerwald from Kaiserslautern, Germany to Wissembourg, France. Once out of Kaiserslautern, the trail wandered through many small German towns, following a trail marked with stones dated as old as 1756. The trail passed two stone watchtowers, Ludwigsturm and Luitspoldturm, as well as the ruins of two castles destroyed during the Peasant's Revolution of the 1500s, while wandering up to ridgelines and down along streams. I enjoyed the sense of freedom I had hiking alone along a trail that had been hiked for so long, testing several new pieces of equipment and basic map reading skills, while never being too far from civilization if something were to have gone wrong.
Every year our Scouts Canada council here in the Fraser Valley of BC has a clean-up weekend at our wilderness campsite, Camp Linley, near Chilliwack. We took our young Scouts (1st & 2nd year) up for the weekend. It was the 1st tenting camp for some of them and they had a blast. A Sunday morning hike up Tea Pot Hill was the perfect capper to a weekend of community service. The view from the peak, up the valley on a crisp, sunny November morning was worth every step.
My favorite trip of the year was the BPL Alander Mountain trip. I got to meet a bunch of friendly folks who share my passion for the outdoors and simple, lightweight, effective gear. As a new convert to lightweight backpacking, it was an exciting opportunity for me to put to the test for the first time my MYOG tarp and modified backpack and find that they served me quite well. In the morning I was awakened by a friendly husky/lab mix licking my face and then curling up next to me to pat his belly. Much better then a bear or rattlesnake who also inhabit the park paying me a visit!
But especially memorable to me was experiencing trail magic on that trip. When I received a call on the top of the mountain that required me to leave immediately, Seth ("Doc Boom") left the rest of the group, sacrificing his participation in the hike, to run with me down the mountain and give me a ride to the nearest town, all the while telling me funny and wild stories from his experience on the AT. A true trail angel.
My favorite trip of the past year was taking my brother in law backpacking for the first time. We brought the pups, and everyone had a great time. Hopefully he'll make it back to the mountains soon for a repeat.
A few really great ones this year. My favorite was probably a 3-day trip around the Pemi Loop in the White Mountains with my girlfriend and another friend. It was my first time hiking above treeline, and it was amazing! The best views were probably from Bondcliff, and the most difficult stretch was probably hiking up the waterfall approaching the Garfield tent site. There was a lightning storm over the town just to the north the second night, and a whole bunch of us got an amazing view from Garfield. The lightning seemed to keep striking in the same couple of places. The long climb up to Lafayette on the third day was inspiring; some kid was doing it barefoot! On the way out, we ran for a couple of miles through pouring rain and hail; luckily we were nearly back to the car by then. BBQ ribs on the way home :)
My favorite hike of the year is the one I took last weekend up Santiago Peak. It is a local peak that was always “too close” or not challenging enough. However last weekend I joined a local Meetup group for the 16 mile round trip right in the middle of a storm. A day with rain, sleet and snow gave me a chance to test out new winter gear and made for a great adventure.
Although it seems every new hike becomes a favorite, the one that will never be forgotten was my Moonlight Presidential Traverse on Aug. 13-14 to complete NH's 48. I finished on Monroe just after chasing the moon all night and witnessing a sunrise I will never forget atop Mt. Washington. After an incredible 8 months of bagging all of the peaks, I had planned the ultimate finish. It was a true full moon on the afternoon we started, it was also the Perseid meteor showers, (which we saw occasionally), and we also saw the space station pass near the moon on Adams. I had planned everything except finding out the space station would be visible. When you plan a hike on the Presidential's, its no guarantee of getting perfect weather, but when it does occur, and it did, my brother and I were able to navigate the highest slopes by only the light of the moon with nothing holding us back as we traversed seamlessly over those highest peaks. I think this hike will remain my favorite for a long time to come.
My favorite hiking trip this year was with my running partner of 25 years. My best friend and I have been through marathons and marriages, family feuds and five milers and many other events that have filled up our lives. However, this time we decided to spend a "girls" weekend and hike Mt Lafayette in the Franconia Notch. Having the opportunity just to pace ourselves slowly and hike this awesome mountain up and down was a wonderful opportunity to immerse ourselves into a deeply rich and meditative world.
My favorite trip this year was actually two trips with my sons over spring break since we had other commitments in the middle of it. These were the first backpacks for my 4 year old son and his Star Scout brother joined us. The first was a simple off-trail overnighter in the Hoosier National Forest to see how the youngest would do. It got pretty chilly but we had a great time so the second trip was 2 nights at the Forest Glen Preserve near Danville, IL. We made some clothing adjustments for him and he kept plugging along at 3-3.5 miles each day. We all had a good time, and are looking forward to more trips. Videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/topshotrhit
My favorite trip this year was a quick hop from Dick's Creek Gap to Winding Stair Gap on the AT. I met up with a bunch of really cool thru-hikers and had great conversation. Only one day of rain mixed with two wonderful days made for a memorable hike.
My favorite trip was to the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness area in the Sequoia National forest. I went to Mystery Lake there and spent 3 days ALONE! Total isolation with the entire lake to myself. I can not remember being anywhere so quiet. It was a beautiful and peaceful couple of days. Can't wait to go back.
My favorite trip this year was a hike between Zealand and Galehead huts via the Bonds in the White Mountains. The sun was shining as we left Zealand, but it was hazy on the Zeacliffs. By the time we made it to Bond it was clear. The views from the ridge between Bond and Bondcliff was spectacular.
This was the third time I've been to the Bonds, but the first time there was a view, which was a nice change :)
My favorite hike this year was the North end of the Smokies on the AT. I met some great people and the temps were amazing in May. The end of the trip was a visit to Trail Daze where we all met up again and spent some more time together. Wow, good friends, great weather, and even a bear sighting or two. Doesn't get any better than that!
My favorite hike this year was in June during the peak of the Rhododendron blooming in the Grayson Highlands and Mt Rogers National Recreation Area in Southwest Virginia. I hiked with the best hiking partner I've ever had – my rescued 110 lb chocolate lab named Kobe who had practically starved to death before he was rescued as a pup. This is one of my favorite 3 day-2 night hikes and the weather was perfect, not that that makes any difference. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about this hike other than the solitude, the companionship, and being in one of the most incredible places in Appalachia.
My favorite trip from the past year was an overnighter in the Grand Canyon down to Granite Rapids. My wife and brother-in-law were lucky enough to get two trips to the Colorado River over Spring Break without any reservations beforehand! The South/North Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails gave us the classic Grand Canyon experience, but the Hermit Trail opened up a whole new kind of Grand Canyon for us. Cowboy camping next to the rapids made the experience that much better.
In July, my girlfriend and I decided to take a trip to the Whites to hike around the Great Gulf. We headed up the Great Gulf Trail, and after about three miles the trees opened up and we were at the edge of the massive cirque, not a cloud in the sky, completely in awe of the Presidentials looming over us. There was a large boulder there, so we stopped to have lunch. She took off her boots for some afternoon sunbathing and I grabbed the pepperoni stick from my pack to cut it up for sandwiches. Before I had even cut into it I sensed movement to my right. I think I knew it before I saw it – a black bear was walking slowly, silently out of the forest into the clearing. He sat down about ten feet away from the rock, so I asked my girlfriend to put her boots back on since we had company. Then he started walking toward the rock we were on, about seven feet off the ground, and I felt one 'thud' (a paw gripping the rock as he started to climb up), then a second 'thud.' Then, as quickly as he started climbing up, for whatever reason he thought better of it and went back to the ground – I know it wasn't because my yelling and arm-waving was intimidating him. After a total of about five minutes of this encounter, he sauntered into the woods, disappearing into the forest. We descended from our perch and high-tailed it out of there, in the opposite direction from our mysterious and truly awesome friend, leaving him to his mountains.
Carter/Moriah/Wildcat ridge in the White Mountains.
Went with two of the housemates, two house friends, and the dog.
Great 3day 2night hike, excellent weather, great trail and views. Timed such that we came across a fair number of AT Northbound hikers gave for some fun conversations along the way. Just an excellent combination of people to be with, location, and weather provided for lots of great memories.
wait, what's your time zone, it's only 11:30 on the 13th in EST as of my writing this post…
Congratulations to Michael McFadden who won the Terra Rosa Tarp Raffle in a random drawing. He lives in one of those states south of New York City. :-)
I'll been raffling off another piece of Terra Rosa gear in about 2 weeks, so keep an eye peeled for another raffle and try your luck again.
And thanks for all of these great trip suggestions!
Took some scouts on a 30 miler, over 5 days (no rush), in the White Mountains (NH) during July. We went clockwise around Franconia Ridge and returned over the Bonds doing a complete loop around Owl's Head. Though the company was exceptional, views spectacular and the laughs historical/hysterical; the part I found most rewarding was the fact that it was my first truly ultra light trip. I began (and finished) the trip with a base weight of under nine pounds and for the first time ever, I was not exhausted at the end of every day, felt great (not sore) when waking in the morning and had everything I needed to be comfortable, dry and safe. We were even caught in the tail of a tropical storm on the last night and I stayed bone dry. As a result, some of the other adults are reconsidering their ‘luggage’ requirements for future excursion. The rush I get going from counting pounds to ounces is so addictive I can’t stop counting and weighing…and counting again.
I actlualy found this more entertaining than James Joyce.
Walinkg in the presence of giants here. Cool thinking all around!