Your opinion...overnighter turned nasty...

Attempted an overnighter, 16 pounds of gear, knowing the potential for rain. Got up to 9000 feet at dark, in the clouds, raining (medium), 36 degrees, with cloud / fog hitting us from the side and high winds. We decided to turn around and come back, thinking it wouldn't be very enjoyable.

We brought an 8x10 sil-nylon tarp, a gateway cape for shelters. Tyvek ground cloth, WM down bag with backpacking light vapr bivy. WM down jacket with OR shell. 

So my question is...how could we have made this trip enjoyable with such potential of being soaked to the bone, while freezing to death?

I could have substituted the down jacket for synthetic fill, but the rain / fog / cloud mist / condensation and cold....???

Thanks so much,

Jim Augustine