I was married when I hiked the AT, and my wife and I slept in the tent every night to get away from the over crowded shelters. My wife went about 1/2 way before deciding to go home, the hike was my dream not hers, and I continued solo.

Since I had started sleeping in the tent I continued and opted to carry the 2 person tent for myself. Thru nights with bears in camp, tornado warnings, thunderstorms, bugs and beautiful moonlit nights I slept in the tent.

My two worst nights, one in Virigina in an open field, there was a huge storm and of course the shelter was full. So when I pitched the tent I place all of my wind ties on one side to prevent the tent form collapsing on that side. However, about 2 AM the wind changed direction 180 degrees and came from the side with no wind ties. I spent the next hour with the tent blown almost flat before I went out in the rain to move a couple of ties to the other side.

My second worst night was in New Hampshire, I woke up hearing a big animal inches away right next to the tent adjacent to my head. I finally realized it was a moose, just inches from the tent. I laid there perfectly still, I was afraid of making a noise and scaring it into trampling me, and I was afraid to lay there still, wondering if it would accidently step on me. For 1/2 hour the moose and I were inches away with only the nylon between us. Every time it stepped I wondered if it would trip on a tent line or on the tent. I had vivid pictures in my head of trying to wrestle with a moose leg while wrapped in tent fabric. Eventually the moose moved off, and only slightly kicked a tent line, but never the tent. To this day I wonder if I did the right thing or should I have made some noise. I'm just glad the moose thought the tent was a big rock and went around it.

I began to really worry about the wear and tear it was going through with wind, branches, stuffed in a stuff sack every day, sometimes wet. I began making plans to replace it about 3/4 thru the trip. I never did, and eventually forgot about my worries. It never let me down. I ended up sleeping in my Orion about 95% of the time or roughly 165+ nights and now am a die hard Serria Designs tent fan.

Of course there are a few more stories, bears in camp stealing improperly hung foodbags, Army Rangers running thru the shelter area at midnight on manuevers, oh yeah, a hurricane of the coast while I hiked the 100 mile wilderness in Maine with the rivers at flood stage. But it was all good.

Click here to see how Sierra Designs was used by Dale Keirstead and other people in the know.

Dale on the summit of Saddleback Mt., Maine

Camping on ridgeline on a superfund site, Palmerton, Pennsylvania - a perfect spot for the Orion tent

Bear near Loft Mt Campground, Virginia

McAfee Knob, Virginia