Personally I feel that the freestanding feature is overrated and usually prefer to take one of my non-freestanding tents due to their generally lighter weight for a given amount of space. But unless your trips will include some pretty extreme conditions, incl. blizzards and substantial snow loads, I wouldn't opt for the 3GT. It's quite heavy, has limited headroom, and is very expensive. Those are minor drawbacks if you'll be facing conditions where that level of tent is needed, but it doesn't sound like your trips are in that category.