I'm a hammock camping newbie - and I got a great initiation!

[gringo]

I've been a member here for awhile but just lurking, but didn't need a lot of persuading that hammocks are great. I've worked in Brazil for 20 years, spend a few months a year in the field there where I essentially live in my hammock, either indoors or on a porch - last few years it's been an ENO double with their bug net. Now I'm just back from a visit to my brother in CO, where I spent 5 days on a solo motorcycle trip camping along the continental divide in his hammock rig (Warbonnet tarp, TT hammock, hammockgear quilts) - he's built a nice kit and now I am a believer in hammocks for temperate climates as well! I never want to sleep on the ground again. So I'm going to start with what I've got - my ENO, Kelty tarp, and Big Agnes sleeping bag with thermarest in a sleeve - and work up from there. I've got a strong DIY bent, have a rugged old sewing machine and am not afraid to try stuff with it... I'll probably buy the major stuff like quilts, but with all my gear I usually modify things to my taste or improvise some new widgets.

My first night out I was on the eastern approach to Wolf Creek Pass, at Park Creek CG - got in late, got the last site with 2 perfectly spaced large trees by the river, and set up in the dark by headlamp. Passed right out, but woke in the wee hours to that unmistakable sound of an animal who's into something. Reluctantly got up to check, wasn't my stuff (my minimal food was all locked in metal bags on the bike) so went back to sleep. Sometime later I was awakened from a good dream by a strong whack on my leg below the knee - I jolted awake in disbelief, fumbled for my light, thrashed around - then stopped to listen and heard nothing, flashed the light around and saw nothing, decided I'd twitched in my sleep and the hammock had rebounded - so went back to sleep.
In the morning the two duffels I'd neatly stacked under my feet were scattered and covered in dirt, with a large dusty paw mark in the middle of one; and the contents of the trash can at the camp toilet opposite my site was all over the road. I'd felt kind of exposed trying to fall asleep in a hammock outdoors at night after a lifetime in tents - which just provide a false sense of security anyway - but now I figure, what's the worst that can happen? It already did, and I'm fine. I went on to have 3 more nights of comfort that hooked me for good...

Looking forward to learning a lot from this forum, and getting my aging bones back out camping more often in greater comfort!


-Gringo

[Cali]

That was an amazing initiation. That would have me thinking twice about hammock camping, or camping in general. Welcome to the madness, and I'm happy you had a pleasant experience, it could have been much worse.

[MAD777]

Goes to show you that we are (usually) not the target of predators. We are seen as sources of trash that may contain goodies. Now you have a great campfire story!

[bc2020]

Umm, don't let my wife see this!!!

[gringo]

Agreed, MAD777. I did some googling when I got back to net access and found a bear info site that says there have been 60 black bear fatalities in North America since 1900. No numbers on injuries... When you think of all the hype and talk you hear about bears, and the size of North America, and over 100 years, 60 is a pretty small number. Now grizzlies are another story - but most of the black bears I've seen (including a pretty close encounter in daylight 2 days after my initiation, attached here), have been running away from me. This guy was just nice enough to stop and pose for a second when I hollered at him!
bear_crop.jpg

[FJRpilot]

What a great story to be able to share at future hangs! Welcome to the group. The San Juan's are a great area to hang, you'll need to find some time to head back that way.

[IndyFace]

something like this happened to me during my first hammock trip! my friend and i took our hammocks, got comfy and started dozing off. she screamed, i woke up, i saw her flashlight shining every which way. i asked what was going on and she said that she heard footsteps. well after 10 minutes, we heard nothing so tried to fall back to sleep. right before i fell asleep, i heard the footsteps from behind me. turned to see a small/medium sized 4 legged animal (didnt have my flashlight so i couldnt make out colors or anything) standing there sniffing around. i guess it saw me move and ran off. the next morning, our small garbage bag (we hung it 100 yrds from our camp and up in a tree about 8 ft) was ripped open and slightly scattered. i still go and i love it even more.