After much agonizing, I finally decided to leave my trusty REI Half Dome (purchased in 2000 for a climb up Kilimanjaro) at home and go with something new. The Half Dome has served me well on Kili and all over Texas (Big Bend, the Big Thicket, Dinosaur Valley State Park, South Padre, Caprock Canyons, Palo Duro Canyon, Guadelupe National Mountains, etc. -- you name it) and I could set it up half asleep, in the wind, in the rain, in the dark, and on occasion under all four conditions at once on the
...