...I think the answer is simple. Adams was probably one of the most patient (and maybe stubborn?) photographers on the planet. Hiking lonely through the rockies, 2 or 3 mules with equipment behind him, always looking for the 'right' view. And once he found it, he prepared his camp, including a lab tent, placed his camera on the tripod, and waitet: for the light and the clouds to be 'right'. This could last days - for one shot. I love Adams' photos.
There were (and still are) photographers who work this way, but I'm not sure that Adams was quite that patient. He said a number of times that he took things as they came.
And I don't think he ever needed a lab tent. He started making photos in the 1920's, when dry plates and film were the norm. I don't think he ever using a wet-plate process that would require immediate processing (or immediate exposure after coating).
And though I'm sure he hiked in the Rockies at one time or another, most of his travels away from California for photography were part of specific projects, and he had a station wagon that he drove. His hiking and mountaineering was in the Sierra in California, and he certainly did a LOT of that, working as a guide during his teens, and owning his own mule. But then his (future, for part of that era) father-in-law owned the photography studio in Yosemite Village, and his family still owns the same space (now called the Ansel Adams Gallery).
One of his most famous photos,
Moonrise over Hernandes NM, which we might have already discussed in one of these threads, was made by the side of the road with very little preparation, and an exposure that was an informed guess. I don't he stalked that elusive combination of subject and light, but rather observed the right combination of subject and light and then made it the sort of place future photographers would stalk.
Rick "the hard part is seeing it when it's there, or finding it when it's not obvious" Denney