I thought I posted an introduction a while back but I don't see it, nor have been here in a while so it is probably worth posting anyway.
I grew up in farm country and parents were not big fans of scouting or camping. My dad was a scout so I read his books over and over and taught myself tons of stuff in the orchard behind our house (my woods). After the military a friend invited me to join him on a short hike on the Interloken Trail (1mile) and an over night in winter. He is a super ultralight kind of guy and I only has some army surplus gear A.L.I.C.E pack, 15° pack that had been compressed for 2 years, thermarest pad and what I was wearing. It was a major failure I slept for terribly and in spurts and we only used two tarps one to block wind one for the ground to be moisture break from snow. I began a love affair with camping in the woods in winter that night. We talked about gear and he showed me what he had and gave some recommendations and I began researching ultralight gear. He moved and there went my connection to the woods and camping.
In college some buddies got me into hiking using "Secret Places". So I started getting some gear together and doing a bunch more hiking. I convince my girlfriend that I really wanted to be hiking and camping people she was for it but we have been limited to the public camp grounds where it is basically car camping. After some sore backs and stiff joints the thrill of camping dwindled. I had planned to propose on a camping trip. With ring in pocket we arrived at the campgrounds when the rain started and wasn't planning on letting up for 4 days. We got a cabin, was not going to pitch the tent on the soaking wet ground, she had fun I proposed. We were not crazy about the idea of "camping" in a cabin. Short story long I got to researching and found hammock-ing and bought a Hennessy the night before I got married I tried an over night and ended up on my parents couch. After a few years I found myself here and on Shug's Youtube channel and started drinking in the loads of knowledge.
When I'm no longer a poor college student I plan to DIY a couple sets of gear and give it a real shot. Since it is cheap and plentiful I have already drank a few Fosters saved a dozen of my cats empty tins and some Aluminum bottle brews alcohol stoves are in my future.
One thing still stumping me is how to source trails and that info. I look forward to hanging and meeting other hangers on the trails.
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