I was one of those guys who lurked here on the forums for a long time before ever creating an account. Then I waited quite a while before finally posting as I was still in the process of absorbing the massive amounts of info here. As previously documented, I had a miss at my first attempt to assemble a good hammock camping setup. Finally, for Christmas this year, I ended up getting a new setup. Obviously, I had to try it out.
I have quite a bit of experience in backpacking, but I was always in a tent before. This was my first real attempt at hammock camping. In fact, this would be my first attempt sleeping in a hammock as my only other experiences had been just lounging around for an hour or two. I was able to acquire a BMBH (from another member) and got a 11x10 tarp directly from the Jacks. After one test setup at a local park, I decided it was time for the real thing. My plan was to spend 3 days and 2 nights in the Sipsey Wilderness, Saturday 12/26 through Monday 12/28.
Unfortunately, mother nature decided she didn't want to cooperate with my little backpacking excursion. In the 36 hours before my departure, it rained about 7-8 inches and caused some massive flooding along the Sipsey fork. My original plan was to park at the Sipsey TH and then make the short hike up to the crossing of Borden Creek to catch the Sipsey Trail (209). Here is a picture of what that creek looked like. Obviously, crossing wasn't going to be an option.
Fortunately, I was watching the water gauge leading up to the trip and knew water crossings wouldn't be possible. The river height rose from around 6 ft before the rain to a peak of 42 ft on Christmas Day! I started a thread in the Southeast subforum asking about water crossings and learned some valuable info from squidbilly. There is a trail on the west side of Borden Creek that is not listed on the map that would allow me to cross the creek via a bridge and then connect to the Sipsey Trail (209) without getting my feet wet. Well, at least really wet.
I began my hike around 2pm on Saturday, December 26 at the Borden TH. Shortly into the hike, I realized this was going to be one of the toughest tests of my hiking ability. The water levels had already dropped by almost 20 feet from where they were and had left a thick layer of slimy mud in their retreat. This mud covered the vast majority of the trail making it pretty interesting to navigate, especially being my first time out there. Often times I was forced to scurry up the ridge to circumvent the numerous wash outs and dry runs (that weren't very dry right now). Here's a shot of the muddy trail conditions.
And here's a shot of the ridge I was scurrying along.
After about 2 hours of hard hiking, I ended up setting up camp just east of Fall Creek Falls on the Sipsey Trail (209). This was my first time ever setting up the hammock in the "real world" context of camping, so I was pretty excited. I found a nice little spot with a cool rock bluff behind me (with water still trickling down from the recent rains) and the river in front. Since the weather forecast was awesome (71 high/61 low), I decided to try pitching the tarp in the baker hut format that the Jacks are so fond of. Here's a pic of the setup for that first night.
I think it's important to note how much I appreciate the Jacks. Obviously, I was using their hammock and tarp, so I just appreciate them making great gear. But beyond that, I found their instructional videos to be among the most helpful. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the setup went, especially the tarp and all the guy lines.
The next morning, I had a quick breakfast (pic below) and then started off for the second day of hiking. My original goal had been to reach East Bee Branch Trail (204a) the Big Tree, though I quickly realized that wasn't going to be possible given the hiking conditions. Once again, I was spending a considerable amount of time porting washouts and smaller streams feeding into the Sipsey. Oh, and there was still a lot of mud! Not long into the day, my feet were completely covered in mud. I'm normally not a huge fan of trekking poles and even considered leaving them back in the truck (like an idiot). Needless to say, without them I wouldn't have made it anywhere. I hiked all the way to the intersection of Sipsey Trail (209) and Randolph Trail (202). In the pic below, you can see the sign pointing to the other trail across the river. Doesn't look like anyone will be making that crossing for a bit.
Regarding gear, this was also the maiden voyage for my new pack (visible in picture above). My previous pack was actually stolen recently and I replaced it with a Deuter ACT Zero 50+15 (whew, that's a mouthful). In many ways, I was actually more concerned about how the pack would carry than how the hammock would hang. I am glad to say it performed admirably and look forward to many miles together in the years ahead.
A huge benefit of the rain was the waterfalls! It is my understanding that this is one of the main attractions of the Sipsey and they did not disappoint. Granted, 8 inches of rain helps a lot. Here are several pics of some of the sights. The first waterfall is Fall Creek Falls where I enjoyed a short lunch break.
The weather forecast said it was supposed to get pretty ugly on Monday, so I decided to set up camp close to the trailhead so I could make an early departure in the morning. I don't mind hiking or camping in the rain, but with all the previous rainfall I was somewhat concerned about flash floods in the event that things got crazy. In retrospect, I could have easily circumvented this by moving up the ridge and tracking the river/creek. However, I didn't know that then so I made my way back toward the Borden TH. I ended up making camp right on the bank of the river (in a slightly elevated position). I set my tarp up with a porch once again but used my trekking poles, thinking I could just adjust the height and drop the awning if it started raining (which I did around 3am).
Here's a shot of the room under the tarp.
This was my first time hanging the tarp so close to the hammock because of the chance of rain. I noticed the contact between the spreader bars and tarp especially when I was sitting in the hammock. It wasn't really a problem when laying down, but I wanted a little piece of mind either way. I ended up just tossing a pair of socks over the ends, which actually worked quite well. They were pretty secure and made me feel a lot better about any incidental contact when sitting.
I woke early in the morning after another good nights sleep. I only woke a few times—one being the first drops of rain when I adjusted the trekking poles. Even though it wasn't raining when I packed up camp, I treated it like a practice run and packed up under the tarp, saving it for last. I then made the short trek back toward the truck. As I was crossing the Borden Creek bridge, I took one parting shot to show how strong the creek was still flowing, a few days after the rains.
Overall, I felt that it was an excellent first trip to Sipsey and first time hanging! I wish I had covered more ground hiking, but the weather (aka mud) just didn't want to cooperate with me on that. Seeing that I can make it to the trailhead from my doorstep in about 1 hour 20 minutes, I'm pretty sure I'll have ample opportunity to see all that the Sipsey has to offer in the days to come.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading my first trip report. One final parting pic of arriving back to the truck. Nothing quite like the satisfaction of a good trip!
Happy hanging!
hewitt
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Originally Posted by Shotgunpapa
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