[pct-l] Re: cooking in tents / rain

[jmertes@verizon.net (John Mertes)]

I never have cooked in my tent.  However one trip back 20 or so years, a friend
and I set out on a week long trip on the JMT from Devil's Postpile south.
forescast was for good weather.  However 2nd day the clouds started coming in.
sprinkles started and gradually increased to heavy rain. Friend had poor rain
gear. We camped above Tully Hole and sat up his SD Starflight (?) and crawled in
to keep dry. Rain was now pouring down.
    After a half hour or so I was warm and clothes were drying. Friend told me
"I can't stop shivering."  Oh Oh, I thought, hypothermia. First first aid is HOT
food. We were carrying my trust Svea 123 and the Sigg cookset for it. No room in
the tent to light it, let alone the dangers.
    So I pulled on my wet rain gear and out into the pouring rain. I made a
little rain shelter by stringing a piece of line between two trees, draped my
plastic groundsheet over it to give sort of an A-frame tent. Then set up my
stove inside, primed and lighted it in the sheltered space inside the tent;
boiled a pot of water; and passed that into friend to fix some hot food and
drink. This was enough. He stopped shivering and lived to tell the tale. And I'm
glad I carried a big ground cloth.

John