Did my first official hammock excursion (solo) and had a blast! Went to Race Brook Falls area, which I had visited 2 weeks ago with my son. We made it from the trail head on Rt 41 to the intersection with the AT and then had to turn back due to a late start. Great hike, lots of ice at the higher levels, and my son of course was wearing sneakers! Had a great time though and swore I'd be back soon to overnight at the Race Brook Campsites and that's what I did this past weekend. Only 2 weeks later and all the snow was gone, so much for the extra weight of a cheap pair of spikes! Day temp was in the low 60's night got to high 40's or low 50's. Slept great in my Sky Bed, after a bit of late night fuss to get the angle right so I was sliding 'into the pocket' as Shug would say. I'm no longer so much a fan of the pad-pocket on the sky bed, preferring now to keep my 20" Big Agnes insulated pad half inflated and just thrown on top, outside of the pocket. Finding it feels more stable. Fully inflated and in the pocket, the sky bed is really comfy for laying on your side, but feels tippy at times when repositioning, which can wake you up from a sound sleep now and then. Jury is still out though and I will experiment further, but I slept great with just the pad. Also had an inexpensive UQ for added warmth and a tarp of course.
Basic setup is here. The head end is facing the camera, and you can see that the ridge line is pretty much level, which is what I had to fix later that night. Once I was poppin' a wheelie, things got a lot more comfortable
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Map of the area:
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Dusk to evening was beautiful and serene, just a few other folks scattered about the area, all in tents. I like to think they looked on in envy:
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I stayed up and read my Kindle a while then turned in. As the night settled in clouds moved with a bit of rain and it got REALLY dark. Could not see my hand in front of my face. I am learning to really love head-lamps when bumbling about at night. Slept well once I re-jiggered a bit of rigging, and (much) later awoke to this fog shrouded atmosphere:
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It was really cool watching that come to light from my cozy hang! Later did a hike to the AT and Mt Everett, my first time really hiking the AT in any form! I don't fancy a through hike any time soon though, my hat is off to people who do that stuff.
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It was a relief to hike without my 35+ lb pack I must say. While not yet a subscriber, I am certainly learning the value of packing light! Haven't done this since I was a kid in the 70's but I've got to say that aside from being really gassed by the initial hike to the camp site, I'm glad I brought what I did, pretty much everything was used. As it gets warmer I may drop the bottom quilt and just use the pad, we'll see. In any case, aside from a bit of rain on the hike down the mountain (had my trusty umbrella, love these so much more than rain gear) the hike was great, and lo and behold the sun came out just as I got back.
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Enjoyed a leisurely lunch of pasta-in-a-pouch, packed up and hiked it all back to the car. Going down felt a lot better than going up and that's for sure! Met some nice folks and had a great time. Will definitely be doing more of this. Already looking at my next hammock and ways to streamline my system. So much great advice from people here and on da 'Tubes helped a ton to get me off to a good start! I also experimented a lot at home, trying things out and sleeping outside a few times to at least get an idea of what I was getting into, highly recommended to anyone else just starting out. Go to a local park and practice, setting up and tearing down! Really pays off.
Cheers,
-Kent
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Originally Posted by xMagnolia
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