I am using a hammock rather than a tent. It is a great hammock, basically like a tent that hangs in the trees. I really like it. It lets me side sleep has little pouches inside for my glasses and phone. I hang my headlamp off of the ridge line so I can see what I am doing inside. It feels like a safe cocoon when I get in it.
I should have practiced setting it up before I left home. However all the chaos with moving after 26 years kept me from making that a priority. So setting it up for the first time in over a year was more time consuming than I planned and it didn’t help that I was exhausted after a 11 mile day (my longest so far).
Once set up I had to walk about a tenth of mile in the dark to use the bear hang for my food. Basically involves using a really heavy iron pole with a fork on the end to get your food back loops over a hook on 12 foot hook. Kind of like a carnival game that you play at the end of an exhausting day where the prize is you get to go to sleep! It took me a few tries.It was dark and that pole was damned heavy! but I made it and staggered off to bed.
2 responses to “Day 4 NoBo: 1st Night to Hammock Camp”
I’m obsessed with your hike! I have so many questions: do you feel like you’re practicing silence and immersing in the forest? Or Are there folks all around that you’re talking to? How many shoes do you have? Are you eating mre’s? Is there an outdoor sandwich shop along the route sometimes? Or a great cheap breakfast place?
I love you and I’m amazed at your bravery. Craft retreat in June?
I guess I am practicing silence. I don’t listen to anything but the forest around me and the ongoing conversation in my head. All my hiking is alone except on two occasions where people decided to hike slowly with me – and they talked the entire time, which was interesting. I have not been at a shelter or campsite alone, but I go for miles without seeing anyone on the trails. I have two pair of shoes. A pair of Hoka Speedgoats that I wear for all my hiking and a pair of Crocs (hideous) that I wear as camp shoes. I have eaten some MREs, but Alisha bought a dehydrator and is cooking some yummy meals and dehydrating them for me. She brought them to me at Mother’s Day, but will mail me some in bounce boxes going forward. Breakfast is usually a cup of tea made on my camp stove and some kind of protein bar, trail mix, or pop tart. I love you and will be flying back for craft retreat in June.