Solo winter backpacking is risky.
It was a perfect plan. My family was spending a couple of days at my mother-in-law's for Thanksgiving. I was in the heart of the Mississippi River Valley and there was a fresh blanket of snow. I set out to do a solo dispersed camping adventure in the Richard J. Dorer State Forest.
Initially, I overcame driving my vehicle into the ditch of the forestry road. I made a beautiful hike to the top of the bluff, found a nice place to set up, and started to unpack.
I discovered I accidentally packed my Ridgerunner Bridge Hammock and not my Blackbird XLC Hammock. In doing so, I also did not pack the spreader bars for the hammock. I decided that trying to sleep in the bridge hammock without the spreader bars (for the first time) in the cold weather alone was not a good idea. I changed plans and completed my day hike and retreated back to the warm house for sleeping.
While disappointed since I had exciting plans to camp, I think I made the safe and smart decision.
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