Mt Whitney Zone Forums Gear Heads Tent recommendation

Afternoon thunderstorms in a safe camp are one of my favorite things about the Sierras - makes for a great excuse for an afternoon nap and the air is so fresh afterwards. This particular camp spot was not so safe as we were on a bench 100 ft above the lake and the lightning was right overhead. The rain and wind went on until the next morning. We got caught in the start of the downpour while on a hike away from camp, but once in our tents, we were dry except the Tarptent had some issues with condensation and leaking on the perimeter netting, but it wasn't pitched all that well by the kids. The stock stakes on the Zpacks are tiny and moved a little due to wind load. I now use longer stakes and I'm going to put tensioners on a few of the guy lines for easy adjustments.

Good catch about the geology, Steve. The photos are at Round Lake north of Carson of Pass, on the Tahoe Rim Trail. The Carson Pass area still has some substantial volcanic flows overlaying the upthrusting granite that haven't yet been eroded away. Many other volcanic overlays have been fully eroded in the Sierra. The dramatic cliffs really light up bright orange/red during sunrise/set alpenglow. Also the volcanic soils are more nutrient rich so the wildflowers in the area are spectacular.

EDIT: Thats not fragile high alpine grass we're on. It's just a nice grassy spot at 8,000 ft that gets heavy use and survives just fine. This would be a bad tent spot in a true alpine zone.