Hey everyone....greetings from the Pine Belt.
I almost wasn't going to post this.....wasn't sure if I wanted to highlight my failure....but I figured if I learned a lot from my experience maybe someone else will. A few friends of mine (7 this spring trip) go on a overnight float trip once or twice a year on the Strong River. Its my favorite river to float. Its difficult to get your kayaks in canoes in and out as its a pretty steep grade down (and out) to the water but it is worth it as it is pretty much an untouched pristine river. We have been doing this for years and have only come across one other boat and they had a fish camp on the river. Im a rock hound to and there is so many sand and rock bars with tons of petrified wood, agates, fossils. (I found my first piece of lightning glass this year). Fishing is always good (top water with a buzzbait is so fun). We caught about 25 bass, a gar and a grendel. (released all but the grendel)
The weather was set to be perfect. 2% chance of rain. Daytime high of 90 with a night time low of 65. We got to our usual camp with plenty of time to set up. (I have slept in my hammock probably 8-10 times...so although I don't consider myself a rookie...I definitely am not an expert. I have lots to learn. We took our machetes and cleared the site. There are 5 trees set up and overhang the sand bar. I have never set up a rain fly cause I have never had to use one. With no rain on the radar (2% right?) i decided to not set up the rain fly. I have been on this river a ton and never needed one. Heck...this is the first year I brought one. Close to sundown we hear lightning. I can see rain clouds building. We have 3 people with tents...and 4 people with hammocks. We discuss whether or not to adjust our camp and set up the rain fly (13'x10 hex). Plenty big for a few hammocks. 2 of my buddies said they were good and didn't think it was gonna rain. Myself and Josh decided to go up and set something up to give us shelter if needed. At the site there really wasn't any way to set up the rain fly properly. We couldn't angle the tarp down with stakes with out a tree in the way. So we either had to take down our hammocks....clear out alot more area with machetes then rehang or try to be innovative. I really didn't think it was gonna rain...so....(big mistake)....I decide to afix the tarp to the base of 2 trees. Basically it looked like a lean-to. I staked the other side pretty much straight down. I figured the set up would work...I couldn't have been more wrong...
The storm that was building was growing but not moving. I like counting time between the lightning and thunder to get an idea of how far away the storm was...I stopped counting when there was so much lightning and thunder you couldn't tell which lighting was from which thunder. A few hours into the night it started dumping. The storm literally was building and stalling right above us. Lighting was everywhere. My one buddy who said it wouldn't rain ended up getting on the ground below my hammock and Joshs Hammock. Our other buddy went to one of the tents. The rain fly was keeping us dry. I was sleeping pretty good when it happened. I basically woke up to what I guess was 10 gallons of water being dumped directly onto me through my bug net and into my hammock. (rude awakening). I don't know if you know this...but our hammocks do not drain water quickly. Being half asleep it took me about 10 seconds to get my bearings and figure out what the heck happened. I was laying in gallons of water in my hammock. Apparently the side lines that were attached to the trees either stretched alot to wear the rain fly had a dip and was ponding water. It ponded until one of the main lines metal rings on the peak of the rain fly was pulled open and the tarp and all the water went straight on top of me. To top that....when I unzipped my bugnet...and swung over the hammock to get out as I was sitting in waist deep water...remember my buddy is sleeping on the ground below me.....and up....when I got up...all the water was dumped on him....its hard not to laugh now....
So the temps lower than the low...probably 60....the wind is constant 10mph...lighting all over the place and Im soaked. We debated going to a tent but this group likes to do things on our own and I didnt' want to wake someone because I wasn't prepared. We decide to sleep on the ground until the rain stops. Basically we "embraced the suck" If I didn't have my woobie (military poncho liner) I would have been very very cold. Surprisingly the poncho liner kept all the heat in despite being soaked. The rain stopped 2 hours later.....I got in my soaked hammock....wrapped in my woobie and slept on and off the rest of the night. Surprisingly the best sleep I got was when I was on the ground.
Got up in the morning....there was tree debris scattered around from the wind...the river was a good bit higher...but all was well. While we waited for the sun to break over the trees...we made some coffee over a fire and had a little breakfast (which included Bloody Marys with Bacon flavored Vodka)....The guys in the tents were amazed that we stayed out in it storm after we told them all that happened. They said it was rough in the tents (they were on the sand bar so they got alot more wind) One of the tents lost its top rain fly during the storm and they had to scurry out to go get it or it had an opened top and it would just rain inside.
I think I summarized the night the best with a quote I said in the morning.... "We may not have had a great time last night....but we had a great time doing it"
Looking back I feel like an idiot for not taking everything down and setting it up properly. I sure made a bunch of mistakes. Definitely will remember this trip.
I decided that the 13 x 10 hex rain fly was to big and will be looking for a smaller one. I have 2 hammocks...Eno DN (9') and a Magellen DN (10') Recommendations for a budget friendly Rain fly?
If you made it this far thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Please give me your opinions, recommendations a jab or two lol
Hang tight
J
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Originally Posted by LuvmyBonnet
Definitely need to do a few more dry runs to make sure I stay dry!
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