I'm going on a two day solo snowshoe camping trip in Las Vegas' nearby Spring Mountains tomorrow.

I have no small winter tent (yes, a TT Scarp 2 comes this summer, as my budget recovers) so I'm "winterizing" my (barely) 2 man Tadpole today. I bought light, uncoated nylon ripstop fabric and cut it to fit over the mesh front door and side panels.

For now I'm in the process of hastily basting the ripstop panels on with needle and thread. Later I'll have a neighbor girl sew on Velcro strips to the tent and panels so I can attatch and remove them quickly, as the seasons dictate. Plus I can open or close off as much netting ventilation as needed when the panels are on the tent.

I'll report in this weekend to let you know how well it works. We're about to get blasted with the last and strongest of the El Nino storms that have hit California and I'll be hiking and camping in it. Love a winter storm!

I have the nearby ski area avalanche patrollers to advise me where NOT to camp. And being a ski patroller myself with an avy 1 course under my belt I'll be digging test pits if I think there is a remote possibility of avalanche along my path.

Eric