Aspiring Hiker Trash from CO

I've been browsing the forums a lot, but haven't posted prior to this. I have been backpacking quite a bit over the last 2 decades but finally started investing in UL gear last year with aspirations to do a Long Trail in the future.

After building out a good kit and spending considerable nights in a Duplex tent and having mixed results with sleep, I decided to give a hammock a try and have never looked back.

I finally let my wife sleep in my hammock for the 1st time last weekend and have now convinced her as well. We camped in a CO State Park which didn't allow hammocks in trees, so I deployed my newly built "Super simple, strong, fairly cheap, very quick bipod style stand" after reading every post in that thread.

Current Setup

• Dutchware Chameleon
• Hammock Gear Incubator UQ
• Katabatic Gear TQ
• Warbonnet Thunderfly Tarp and Hammock Gear DCF Tarp with Doors

Now time to build out additional kits for my wife and 2 kids.

Last notable trail: Laugavegur Trail in Iceland
Next Trail (Covid Pending): Laurel Highlands

Wh1sti3Punk, welcome to the forum. Just a note that I don’t know how many read this intro thread compared to General Hammocks or other sub-treads like camping. I wouldn’t have noticed your post if it had not been in the “new posts” on the home page. I’m only mentioning that in case there are not a lot of replies here. You are cetainly welcome to the forum and being from CO, I’m guessing that eventually we’ll see some great camping photos.

When you do find a place with trees, if they are thick (as are most in the PNW) you can run a hammock off each side of the two trees - with the tree providing the separation. There is a little challenge with that - having a tarp cover both. If the tarp is just to give some shelter from the sun or bright moon or birds, then it’s not as critical as weathering a storm - I think that should be “whethering” as in, “We were whethering if we should stick it out or make a run for it.”

Another solution that doesn’t use two trees is to pull into a camp site such that you can use the luggage rack on your car and one tree for support. That gets into a technical discussion - is it really a hammock if it is not hanging from two trees. Maybe it’s just a visual barrier you can sleep in?

If you do end up somewhere without access to trees, you can use the hammock as a bivi bag. I don’t know about the Chameleon but for my WB BlackBird, I just put a ground sheet down (simple, black, visqueen plastic), a ¾ length therm-a-rest pad, then my hammock. I stake out two poles at each end and tie the bugnet to them, raising it off my face. I also suspend the tarp from the poles.

Sometimes it takes a day or two for a body to adjust to a hammock.

Welcome to HF!

I assume the Laurel Highlands listed in your post is the one in western PA. If so, it is quite hammock friendly, easily accommodating a family of 4 at all the campsites. I've found the PA state park system to be very well run.

greetings from exColorado hiker trash (I grew up there, but have been relocated to VA) I will hopefully do a section of the AT next week.