So I had the fortunate pleasure of taking a 5 night vacation up in the Ozark National Forest area from the 10th to the 15th of this month. This was the first test of my first stab at a DIY CDT quilt system so I was excited. I was also quite excited about the prospect of climbing on some good sandstone with 9 others from the local climbing scene. Initially on the drive in Friday the weather looked alright. It was supposed to rain and maybe snow all Saturday but the rest was supposed to be dry with some sun and decent temps.
So we get into Jasper, AR after a 10 hour drive from Austin about 8:20 at night. Everyone was going to stay at a campground/RV park in town run by a rather eccentric but very nice gentleman. We called ahead to try and inquire about a site that had a good setup for a hammock. He says he knows that people have strung them up at his campground before and to just come in and find a spot then go to the office. We pull in and I fairly quickly find a spot that is just barely wide enough for my Kelty Noah 12 but find the office is already closed. My friends assure me it's no big deal and to check in with him in the morning. After enjoying some beers around the campfire I finally go to retire with probably too little calories burning in the furnace as I hadn't eaten much on the car ride and barely ate at camp.
I first tried to sleep with the single layer of quilts in what was probably about 38 at the time and after an hour I found that it was ever so slightly cold on bottom so I added a second CDT TQ and added my snap in doubled up CDT UQ liner. This got me quite comfy but I was only sleeping off and on with the noises of being outside (and somewhat near a road that got a little bit of traffic at night). It's been years since I've camped so I need some adjusting. I remedied this the next day by buying some earplugs. Somewhere around 4 or 5 am it started to rain too which really didn't help for me as it was a slow rain so not super staticy sounding, just random pitter patter stuff. I ended up getting up not too long after sunrise having been quite warm that night where it probably got down to 36. Also stayed dry with the tarp in winter mode on one side and spread on the other although I could have set it up the long way the whole trip as there was barely any wind.
After getting up I head up to the office and we get situated with the campsite reservation. As was promised it was no big deal with the owner. We ended up eating in town and just generally chilling out at the camp staying dry the whole day as the rain slowly intensified. I set up my tarp in porch mode and just hung out bundled up. I think I took a nap that day too.
A bit after taking that video the temps did finally fall below freezing and we started to get some sleet. That lasted for about an hour till finally it turned into big fluffy snowflakes. Eventually I hauled off to the hammock again to rest for the night (with a much more full stomach after eating a burger in town). The snow continued lightly into that night and I think it got down to 28. I stayed warm and cozy once again (sans the bathroom trips).
Next day was fairly nice with some sun and a high I think in the mid 40s. It was a good day of climbing despite all the snowmelt making some of the climbs a bit wet. Get back and sleep through the night where it got down to probably 23. Once again was still staying warm, especially on top (I have a feeling the UQ could have been adjusted a bit better).
Next two days we got some alright climbing in but the temps were barely above freezing Monday and a bit below Tuesday. Both days it stayed cloudy and it was windy Monday and snow flurried all day Tuesday. Both nights the temps hovered around 29. Tuesday night the temps once again dipped back down and hit 22. I think my feet were ever so slightly cooler that night after I woke up compared to my torso but overall not too bad. Soon after we grabbed breakfast and came back and packed up camp and headed back home.
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