I lerned that lesson the hard way in 29 Palms, CA. I was in Field Radio Operator's Course (FROC) and when we took our first field excercise for pratical application and stupid 19 year old me didn't believe the instructors and didn't bring hardly anything in the way of insulation. Idiot! After a couple times out, you learn what you need and that the desert can indeed get right chilly at night. Lessons learned the hard way a long time ago. I'm nowhere near the desert now, but still remember those days years ago. I wonder if I'd had a hammock back then if they'd let me hang it between HMMWV's?
"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl
WaeEagle:What do you tie the hammock to in the dessert? There's all those Saguaros, but that could get a bit prickly!Oh, you're not kidding. The desert winter is the best. Although it can get pretty nippy if you're not prepared for it.Every morning is nice when stepping out of the comfort of a hammock. Just thinking of all of those bugs and rain if you had any you escaped from during the night makes it so much better. Plus with the HHs, no scorpions in your boots!
No, I don't think I even had the camera with me, and as soon as I came out of the tent/bag they were gone in a hurry! If I later find some pics, I'll post 'em.And yours--even though you were tenting--sounds like one for the record books. Any pictures from that event?
That's the one I'm thinking of. A fellow, I belive a White Mountain Apache and part time fireman, started the fire on purpose to make some work!And there was a fire in the White Mtns a while ago but I think it is recovering really well. I think someone got lost/hurt and made a fire that got out of control after they rescued them--not sure on the specifics though.
Wow! I should have known! I used to camp and quail hunt in the white tanks, and of course the Superstitions. What did I do? Well, first I was sent there for advanced training in aircraft support equip. Fixed bomblifts and such. Then I was cross trained to the medics. I was a Georgia boy who hated that desert for the 1st year, but after 3 years I was now in love with all aspects of the Arizona outdoors. Even without a hammock!That's the one--Litchfield Park. Although there are probably many more homes and metro cities around Phoenix than you remember or that you would believe. The city stretches from nearly the Superstitions in the east to the White Tank Mtns in the west if you can believe that! And 70-73, what did you do then?
I've yet to figure that one out. If you camp in the desert, the only thing I've found to do is to find a wash with some of the scrubby trees. Even then it's difficult to find two close enough and large enough to hang without sagging to the ground every time. Saguaros are just not a good idea.
Here are a couple more pictures from the hike. Picture #2 is my first one of Mt Baldy. It's the peak on the very far left. I like the clouds in these pictures.
I'm trying to figure out where to go hang next. Mt Humphreys? Granite Mountain? Some out-of-the-way canyon? One of my friends is thinking about heading out to Mt Whitney sometime in September.
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return. -- Leonardo da Vinci
Anywhere in within a 360* circle 10 miles or so in diameter of Humphry's peak (12,680?) would make superb hammock hanging, as long as you take plenty of water with you. On the east side of Humphry's, Lockett (sp?) Meadow is a beauty, or a hike from there into the inner basin, the crater of the extinct volcano. Or Hart Prairie(sp?) on the west side. Endless large aspens and ponderosa pines and such suitable for hanging, nice and cool in the summer. Or how about Oak Creek Canyon or one of it's tributaries, like West Fork? I remember a remote deep canyon on the Mogollon Rim with a nice trout filled creek running thru it that was great, but I can't quite remember the name. Clear Creek, maybe, or east/west fork of same? I could find it if I had the map.
So many choices, so little time!
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