Hi, Betsy,
Wow! That's about as thorough a reply as one could ever wish for. Thank you.
If you had time, and if it were not too much to ask, what is Terrace Creek camp like? I'm driving up from Torrance tomorrow, and I'll probably not get on the trail before 1:00 PM. That only gives me 4 hours of light, and I believe Terrace Creek is about 5.5 miles in, so I might not get all the way to Barlow Flats the first day. I think Barlow Flats is on the order of 7.7 miles in.
Well, it sounds like either a tent or a hammock would be reasonably practical. I guess I could pack up everything and see what the relative weights are and just go with what's lightest. Typically a tent actually turns out to be lighter, at least with a trekking pole tent. One might think that a hammock would be lighter since it requires no tent poles, but, with a trekking pole tent, the weight of the trekking poles themselves isn't typically included -- I bring the trekking poles regardless of whether I bring a tent or a hammock.
HJ