Got caught in a downpour at Yosemite last spring and my $50 tent flooded in 20 minutes

I was up near Tuolumne Meadows, thought I had a solid 3-season tent. First real storm hit and water was pooling under my sleeping pad. Turns out the factory seam seal was garbage. Had to hike down to the valley in wet gear. Now I seam seal every new tent myself before I even take it out. Anyone else learn that lesson the hard way?

3 comments

3 Comments

morgan.jason17d ago

Tuolumne doesn't usually get storms that bad in spring.

olivia_white9317d ago

Oh totally, but the funny thing is I remember one spring like five years ago when we were up there and it was supposed to be this nice mild weekend. We woke up to like a foot of snow and had to dig the tent out with a plastic cup because that's all we had. Everything was just wet and cold and we ended up cutting the trip short by a day because the car couldn't even make it up the dirt road.

flores.emma16d ago

and @morgan.jason i think you're underestimating how weird the weather can get up there in spring... it's not about the average storm pattern, it's about those freak systems that roll in off the Sierra crest. see, the issue isn't just the snow itself, it's how the ground doesn't dry out fast enough in may because the sun angle's still low and the soil is cold from winter. plus the dirt roads turn into a nightmare when they get that late wet snow on top of mud... the rangers usually don't even bother plowing that high up past yosemite valley until june. i've been caught in similar situations where the forecast said partly cloudy and we ended up with frozen gear and a two hour delay just getting out because the road was a sheet of ice. so yeah, olivia's story sounds completely believable to me.