So, we took our scouts out to an area in SW Montana known as Pipestone for a quick overnighter. It is a big area used by bicycles, motorcycles, ATVs, joggers, etc. Many neat things to see. We took them there for bicycle riding.
When we were setting up camp, it became apparent that hanging my hammock was going to be a challenge. The trees were basically in "gang mode". Each clumb of trees had one big tree and a bunch of little tiny trees right around it, trying to look big. Then 50 yards away stood another gang of trees.
Finally I found a couple of trees that would work that were about 35 feet apart. This used up most of my suspension length just reaching across. Then trying to get the straps high enough was another problem. I ended up getting the lines connected about 9-10 feet up the trees. Luckily I had the foresight to attach retrieval lines to the loops of the tree huggers so I could release and retrieve them from the ground.
This left the lines themselves very tight going across. In fact, for the first time ever, the suspension actually made noise when I would climb into the hammock. I could flip the ridgeline with my finger and it struck a note like a guitar string.
As the forecast was for a clear night and, given the state of the suspension which I didn't expect to last the night, I didn't bother to setup a tarp.
At about 10:30 when I was going to bed, I noticed a layer of frost was already developing on the hammock and quilts. It was about 28*F at this point (got down to about 16* for a low). Recognizing my lack of judgement, I quickly setup my tarp. It was a good thing, too. By morning, there was a heavy layer of frost on the tarp and ground. I gladly traded my view of the stars for no frost all over me.
On Saturday, we broke up in several groups and road the different trails in the area. My group made about a 10 mile round trip ride to Ringing Rocks. It was really amazing how these different tones could come out of this pile of rocks. If I would have had my "ridgeline guitar" there, we could have had a regular band going.
The scouts had a blast and we even found a geocache in the area.
Anyway, it was another fun adventure to add to my hammocking/camping/scouting adventures. Along with HYOH, I think I will have to add that NTHATS - no two hangs are the same.
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