We rolled in late to Hualapai Mountain Park after being unimpressed by the Cattail Cove site near Lake Havasu. Great tip Kurt!
It was cold, dark, and mostly empty when we arrived. We went to look at "tent" sites before committing, but were quickly joined by a Ranger in his pickup, who took our fee, got us a bundle of firewood from the locked cabinet, and drove us to a few sites before leaving us to decide. Really great people! He filled out the forms, drove us to 3 sites he thought would be hammock friendly, and got out of his pickup at each site to shine his bright light on the campsites. Camping fee was $17, and the office/ranger refunded us $3 the next day because we didn't have exact change the night before.
Temps dropped to the low 20s, which is cold for us SoCal guys. We could have used more firewood - a mistake rectified on the following night near the Grand Canyon. We started the fire too early (because it was cold), and burned through half the bundle by the time we had our hammocks setup and dinner cooking. We had a Biolite camp stove between us, which add more heat. It was dark, and fairly rugged terrain so we couldn't gather much wood, except to feed the biolite.
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The night was cold, especially face and feet. I had HG 20F Burrow Incubator. My son uses an Arrowhead 3-season Jarbidge and TNF sleeping bag. and The sun warmed things up quickly, but we didn't linger long, wanting to get a Route 66 diner breakfast, and make our way further East and North to Kaibab NF.
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We found a great spot the next night just NW of Tusayan, on Forest Road 328. In addition to more layers, we also draped our tarps over our hammocks like a topcover. My son added a silk liner and an UQP, and I slid one of those heavier space blankets between the two layers of my XLC. I thought I would experience CBS and cold feet, but actually warmed up nicely. It was at least as cold that night, but we were better insulated.
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Thanks again to Kurt for the recommendation, and a shout-out to the rangers at Hualapai Mountain Park, as well as the rangers in Tusayan that pointed us to the campsite the next night (which was free). You Arizona guys are OK by me! We met up with family at GCNP, and spent the rest of the week down in Sedona.
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