I'm dumb.

[NightHawk!]

Good choices come from a lot of experience.

Experience come from a lot of bad choices.

You just hope you live through enough of one to get the other.

Awesome! I really like that paustin. Advice to live life by, not just hang by.lol

[Oms]

I think everyone has spent a cold night in the woods. Fortunately most of us survive and learned from it. If not there is the Darwin Theory Glad you are safe

[paustin]

Awesome! I really like that paustin. Advice to live life by, not just hang by.lol

Thanks. My son is learning to drive. Lots and lots of bad choices. Hoping that experience comes quickly.

[creativeKayt]

Isn't it amazing how quickly things can turn? In the blink of an eye, we can go from 100% confident to complete vulnerability? I am glad you made it back out and thank you for sharing so we can all learn. This is a great reminder, too.

[Big Sweets]

Sometimes a trip like this is a real eye opener and makes you pause and rethink everything. I've had a few of these and it made me better each time. It's a never ending journey and all you can do is rely on experience and not panic.

[lollygagger]

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
Mark Twain
Had my "dumb moment" 48 years ago in NW Ontario...My dad told me not to walk out on that mossy, slick outcropping over the rapids between two lakes.....150 miles from the nearest road and a short 65 minute flight on a puddle jumper that wasn't due for 5 days......he grabbed me by my hair (t'was the 60s') just before I was about to go in......Been bald ever for 35 years now.....You are not dumb.....you had an advanced lesson in life....Live and learn......and let it go.....and pay it forward....

[Gruxxx]

It can be an eye opener how you can freeze in a hammock while wearing all those clothes with a pad and two sleeping bags. Having good bottom insulation is the key. There was a thread recently on the importance of testing your gear in a controlled environment (backyard, etc.) before venturing out on a serious trip. Then you'll know what your comfort zone and limits are with the gear you have. One of the coldest nights I had in a hammock was shortly after I bought one. I went kayak camping in mid-July with a fleece sleeping bag and no bottom insulation. The night only dipped into the mid-50's, but I shivered and was miserable all night long. Now I use an underquilt, and those temps are nothing in shorts and a T-shirt.

[stevebo]

Glad youre ok! Every one has trip stories like that--------last winter I packed in a hurry and forgot to bring a headlamp . I was able to improvise witha stub of a candle, and the back light on my kindle!

[dmolition]

We all learn one way or another. I learned I needed an underquilt when I tried to camp at 65°. And just this past week I learned to keep my underquilt snug around my head area. And most importantly I learned to not keep my feet so close to the end of the hammock, my right foot left the underquilt and I woke up with bad bone pain in the morning because it was so cold....


Some extras I learned: Always carry something to get bugs out of your ears (I had a bug in my ear for 4 days!!!!!!)
I need a WBBB 1.1 SL
Grand trunk will never get my business
Always check for thicks at night (my hiking partner found one on his leg 3 days after the trip)


We all learn by experience, it is the best teacher.

[dannyvp]

At summer camp this year I shivered for hours in my hammock waiting for daylight. A simple mistake, I assumed I would be fine at 50 deg weather after the front blew though. I was wrong. However after borrowing a fema blanket at scout camp I was sleeping well the next night. This just reminds me to get going on my under and over quilt!!