>>1192687>What's the best setup for a tarp inna mountains and how do you avoid being waken in the middle of the night because it started raining and your mate is now laying on a puddle?First: innamountains, the rain tends to only last for a short period of time, so most of the times it rains, you can pitch your tarp pretty much anywhere without worries. It's the longer, heavier rains where you start to have problems with puddling.
The key to overcoming the problem is selecting a campsite with good soil drainage. This is not as straightforward as it might seem. Different types of soil and vegetation produce unique types of ground-cover with their own peculiarities and challenges. The best way to figure it out on your own is next time it rains hard on a hiking trip, to look around at the dirt. Find the puddles and find the areas free of puddles. Some spots on the forest floor will even be bone dry (usually under big trees).
Flat areas with hardened soil, especially if the soil is depressed, compacted or lower compared with what's around it, are the worst. Most "permanent" rural campsites (flat areas at obvious spots like lookouts or by lakes and just off the trail) in the mountains will tend to be poor choices for tarping, due to the fact that repeated use will tend to flatten the soil, creating puddle basins in the obvious tent sites. The best tarp sites have a bit of vegetation, well aerated soil, gravely soil, are on a slight incline, are sheltered by large trees overhead and around, and have an obvious path downhill of the site for water to flow to.
