[at-l] Tarp and bivy: adventures with cats

[Amy Friends <coelura@hotmail.com>]

I visited my folks back in upstate NY and slept out in the yard in my bivy 
sack with tarp set up over it.... it was pretty cool, although I neglected 
to account for one thing - my mother's cats!  Several of the cats decided 
they had to help me set up the tarp (wonderful help they are, eh?) and then 
later one of the young ones decided it made a great kitty trampoline.  I 
have some repair work to do!  A bunch of little punctures and even a 
two-inch slash in the nylon.  Other than that it worked great though!  I set 
it up the first night in the rain, and only put one corner up with my hiking 
pole, but it was pretty warm.  The next night I propped up the opposite 
corner with my other pole, and that was better.  Apparently I set up it up 
pretty sturdily (although I neglected to lash anything directly to the 
poles), because Bibs trampolined on it for a while before it came down (I 
couldn't pull her off because she would just hang on and it would create 
more tears).  My sister took photos of the setup (some with cats sleeping 
under and some with Bibs on the tarp), although I don't know when she'll get 
it developed.  The second night Sandy (another cat) discovered me out there 
and curled up next to my bivy, so the mesh on one side has a bunch of red 
cat hair on it... *laugh*  I so didn't think about that!  Ya should've seen 
Murphy (big brown/grey fluffy thing) trying to help me unravel the 
guylines...

I may use it as an excuse to get the larger tarp... or a siltarp maybe.  :-)

Sandpiper

PS My folks think I'm certifiable now, sleeping out in the yard when there 
was a perfectly good house (or three - two of my sisters live in the area as 
well) to sleep in... :-7
--
Where you've been is dead and gone
all you keep's the getting there.
To live is to fly low and high
so shake the dust off of your wings
and the sleep out of your eyes...
Townes VanZandt



_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List |  http://www.backcountry.net  *

==============================================================================