Has anyone done the John muir trail in a hammock?

[jonskiles]

All of my trips have been late August and early September. You can get some weather but it has been great. This year will be the first time I haven't started from Happy Isles. We are starting at tuolumne meadows.

[lori]

As a Sierra-phile and a lover of high alpine, I go half and half between hanging and sleeping in the tent with the BF. If I planned to do the JMT from end to end - which I won't, I do sections here and there but always swing away from it again to more remote, less famous, fabulous places because CROWDS are NOT my thing at all - I would take a hammock. The pattern is generally to push toward the next pass, camp low, and get up and do the high pass in the morning, before the thunderstorms of the afternoon come along with their lightning risks and sometimes heavy rains. Toward the end of the trail the passes are quite high indeed - Forester is only 1,000 feet lower than the top of Whitney - but the trail is a highway, frequently maintained, used by pack trains and thousands of people every year.

Long straps are a must. Mine are 15 feet each, and there are trees that require me to use a couple Amsteel extensions to augment them. The last third of the trail, foxtail pines are the main thing - often the only thing - available to hang from. If you can't find low branches to use, you need something to get around the wide girth of them - sugar pines and Jeffrey pines are often huge as well. There are sugar pines that equal the smaller sequoias.

If you have a 25' line for your tarp suspension, it might sometimes be too short, for the same reason.

[jonskiles]

Great post Lori. Thanks.

[Mazer]

I have been to a number of ultra light backpacking seminars put on by REI employees, These are not just "hey buy this stuff from us" the one I went to was on the JMT and the guy had done the trail with his dad and his uncle. He was pretty straight forward about what worked for him and what didn't, what gear he took, and other items suggested. I learned a lot from these seminars (I go every other Wednesday or so just to get the inside line on things). You might want to find out if they have a seminar coming up, or if there is an employee at a store near you so you can get first hand information. Good luck

[slowpoke]

If you have clark's markll hammock you'll have no problem finding a place to hang or set on the ground. Go to ckark jungle hammock web site and look up the Markll hammock/tent.

[NeighborhoodGuy1983]

Hammocking the JMT is doable. I would not recommend that being your only option because it could limit your options in a pinch. Finding campsites on the JMT is not as easy as you would think if you are following Leave No Trace principles.

Anyone feel free to PM me about JMT advice or questions

[clean]

I've been thinking a lot about this topic. I will take a hammock, a short underquilt and a 48" Neoair. I'll fold the pad under my legs loosely inflated when hanging and then I'll rely on it the couple nights I go to ground.

My Superfly (or perhaps a cuben equivalent) should work fine when going to ground on my trekking poles.

[NeighborhoodGuy1983]

I would take an ultralight ground sheet as well. The soil is super sandy and rocky.

[josh hikes]

I did JMT in 2014. Trip report at end of thread.
rock anchors are nice when you need them (used 2 nights), but a bit tricky to use. I cut the cables off mine and threaded in Amsteel.
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...r-Setup-Please

Don't swim across a 1/2 mile calm lake at 13,000 ft and almost drown from hypothermia like I did. Enjoy.

This is a good source of info as well:
http://www.pcta.org/journalist/post/hammock-on-the-pct/