[pct-l] re : Hammocks

[hayduke at toughguy.net (Hayduke)]

Thanks for the response Roni :-)

My main concern is padding when sleeping on the ground. I have been looking
at different systems to keep my butt warm in the hammock, but I don't think
they would provide much comfort if I was forced to sleep on the ground.

I suspected that the only areas I might have trouble finding trees would be
the deserts, and luckily you have sort of confirmed that. If that's the
case, I won't worry about the need for a sleeping pad since the desert
usually has plenty of sand to lie on ;-)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "roni h" <roni_h3000@yahoo.com>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2003 4:12 AM
Subject: [pct-l] re : Hammocks


> As a hiker who just completed thruhiking the p.c.t. (except for the last
66 miles to the Canadian border which I'll have to do some other time) and
who has hamocked all the way from Mexico I would definetly say that it is
possible to hike the whole p.c.t. with a hammock without ever having to
pitch it on the ground once (I never did so as I felt it would eventualy
tear the bottom of the hammock when i put it on the ground). One can hammock
even in the southermost 700 miles of trail. The problem is that I quicly
realized after I started hiking from Mexico that my hike is determined by my
hammock - I planned my day in such a way that I would end it near trees (the
superb guidebook of southern California usualy mentions if there are trees
near a campsite).  Being a hammock fanatic ment that I had to do some longer
days than I would have wanted - like a 23 mile treeless strech from scissors
crossing that I had to do in one night. It also meant that I had to
improvise  - like tiei
>  ng my
>  hammock from a burnt car when I was under cottonwood bridge in the Mujabe
dessert. I discoverd it is also possible to hammock in chaparel, if your
lucky enough to find a dry ravin between two big bushes. If you tie your
hammock close enough to the ground  the bushes (with their spread out root
system) will easly cary your weight, and if the ravine is deep enough, you
might avoid hitting the ground when you enter the hammock. Or not...
>
> The most important thing to you have to do if your determined to hammock
through the dessert is ask people who have already hiked that section before
where you could find trees.
> In retrospect I would actualy advice you not to go with this strategy.
Insted of being a slave to my hammock, I decided after a couple of weeks
that I should be willing to sleep on the ground whenever I felt like.
Luckily, the rule is that wherever there are no trees, there is no rain, so
pitching my hammock on the ground was unecesery.
> All and all I would estimate that I hadn't hammocked on the trail only
about 10 nights on the whole p.c.t. and at least half of these nights could
have become hammock nights by hiking only a few miles further.
> I am still as big a hammock fanatic as I've been, especialy after seeing
all the other poor hikers sleeping on the wet ground in rain in
Washington...
>
> Roni  (now in Tel-Aviv, Israel)
> www.trailjournals.com/roni
>
>
>
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