Hey everyone, long time lurker here from the TN/KY border.... have been using this site as a hammock manual since my early days of hanging in 2013. Started backpacking in 2017 right before graduating college and now have logged over 500 miles on the AT, as well as hundreds (maybe thousands) more in the southeast! I owe a lot to Dutchware, Shug, Warbonnet, and Enlightened equipment for keeping me warm and dry in all my hangs over the years even when i was an amatuer. Could shoutout tons of others too but would take the whole afternoon. Its not my goal, but have now converted 3 tent camping friends to hammocks as well. I love being a source of information/teacher to all my friends who are new to the hobby, and always tend to end up with some great conversations in the backcountry with people who mention this forum or youtubers like Shug. Hope I can make it to one of the events this fall.
I was in a pretty serious accident back in january leading to me having serious whiplash & some minor spinal damage which I'm still in physical therapy for. Not only did I lose my car, job, social life, and sometimes my sanity but also lost my ability to go backpacking every few weeks. All I can say is I really took my time on the trail/in the hammock for granted and I have been dying to get back out to multi day trips. Thankfully, I have been able to do some hiking with light bags this year and (painfully) backpacked once up to Roan in July which I don't regret even though it caused me to get back into physical therapy. Here's to getting back at it this winter and patience with my body as I heal. I guess my biggest reason for this post is reading a lot of these forums and watching hours and hours of youtube backpacking videos has helped me power through these past 9 months and I'm forever grateful for such a positive community....not only here but on the trails too.
I do some occasional youtube videos, and spend a lot of my camping time writing music and studying the local botany. If you have questions about horticulture, organic farming, the Great Smokies, or the East TN mountains i'm here for it!
Cheers
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