My wife and I took a quick trip up to the SHT from 7/8 to 7/10. It was our second trip using our new hammock rigs. The weather was great for the entire time, other than a quick sprinkle on the last morning and the unbearable humidity.
We started in Tettegouche state park and hiked in to the east pallisade creek campsite. We were using warbonnet travellers with the warbonnet bugnet and we each had a big mambajamba. It was pretty muggy and buggy, so we left the tarps off. I think our problem was that our diy underquilts were a little too warm (7.5 oz of down each) for the conditions. So, even after opening up the ends of the UQs we both sweated the night away. The joy of being covered in DEET and sweat and then climbing into, as my wife called them, a small black tomb of bug netting. Needless to say we didn't sleep too much. We still had fun despite the cool urine colored creek water. So far it appears that the steripen did it's job. I'll let you know for sure in a few days!
In an effort to increase the enjoyment factor we hiked out and drove up to cascade river state park with hopes of cooling down in the river. We hiked in to one of the SHT camp sites on the west side of the river and shared the campsite with a thru-hiker. Once again the nice breeze that was blowing all evening stopped at sundown and we sweated away another night. My wife had me cracking up at 2:30 am. As she tossed and turned the profanity was flowing like a truck driver. At one point she said "You and all your hammock forum buddies can go rot! I'm burning this hammock when we get home!" In the past we've always backpacked with either a tarp or a pyramid tarp, so the hammock felt way too confining to her and she couldnt get comfortable. She swears she will never sleep in a hammock again.
On a good note this was my second trip with my ULA conduit and I couldn't have been happier. It carries like a dream. The only downside is that the TQ, UQ, Hammock w/net and tarp take up a lot of volume in the pack. My pack was stuffed and I only had 2 1/2 days of food. Other than that, it's a light but tough pack that I think will be my first choice for 3-seasons.
Now my only problem is deciding what to do with my wife's hammock rig. Keep it to loan to friends or sell and get some cash back on the investment?
Here are some pictures from the trip.
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