Destinations

[Crash]

Going on the Greenbrier River Trail and the Stony Creek Rail Trail got me to thinking............
I know we have trip reports but we should have a way of reporting on destinations, i.e.: was it a good spot to hammock, does it have water, what attracts you to the place, swimming, mtntop views, is camping limited to specific sites,

Maybe the powers that be on Hammock Forums can add a new section called: Destinations. If you know a good spot for hammocking and can write about what makes it so good. Or if a spot is poor for hammocking, like few trees or restrictions. I know that Whiteblaze lists places by state maybe that would be a good start for here.

Trip reports are great to hear how much fun you had (or not) or what equipment worked. But Destination Reports should be specific to explaining why its a good or bad place to hammock. I'm heading out to the C&O Canal tomorrow and I have no idea if its going to be good for hammocking. Do all the campsites have trees to hang from?

If we can do this, I recommend that in the title we list the location by name to make easier searching and put each one in a states sub-folder. Sometimes reports are made on a location and I have absolutely no clue to what part of this country you are talking about.

I hope this will help to get more people to hang out.

my time is up, I need to get back onto the trail.

[saltminer]

I`ll second this.Good idea.

[HappyCamper]

Me too! Could be a great "reference library" over time.

[clb]

Great minds think alike, I missed this post, and posted a similar one yesterday that got moved to just above yours, which is how I discovered yours. I'll see if the moderators can delete mine...same concept, but with specific campsite #'s.

[Poppabear]

Great idea! Could this possible be done with a Google map? Similar to the one that give members locations. Just thought.

[mbiraman]

One of the paddling sites i frequent has a "paddling location" section that gives map numbers for the area, describes the area in general,how you access the area,what the parking is like,the kind of conditions your likely to experience on a calm day/rough day, camping in the area with gps location, access to fresh water, how popular the area is and when, in general how long a trip it is, what time of year is best, things like that. Folks in the paddling community took it upon themselves to write up an area and post it in the "paddling location " section. These are concise descriptions with one or two pics, not trip reports as such. If the Mods thought it appropriate an section could be made with headings like hiking locations, by state etc etc and folks here just add a brief description of the area etc.

[Just Jeff]

If you want to give away exact locations of your favorite hanging spots :jj: then Google Maps is probably a great way to do this.

We recently reorganized Hammock Forums to decrease the number of subforums we had, so it does not get cumbersome to navigate like many of the other forums on the web. In that regard, we think that discussing how we use the gear on different trips is more useful than the specific locations where it's used. The Trip Reports section does a great job of finding that balance between usable information in an easy format, and adding several subforums that would have to be tended by the moderators, would confuse people on where a post belongs and on which info goes into a trip report and a destination report, etc. I've seen your idea work well on other forums, but we don't plan to add it at this time.

But seriously, if you'd like to press ahead with it then start a Google Map!

[Trooper]

I think Jeff is right. But, how about a thread on the topic that is the home to the Google Map link and a description of the map and how to use it. The thread would be locked after the first post, and stickied at the top of our Trip Reports Thread (http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57)?

[Just Jeff]

The thread is defiinitely a good idea. We'll discuss whether or not to make it sticky.

[clb]

I see your point, Jeff :)

[Crash]

Me too! Could be a great "reference library" over time.

Now if Hammock Forums has a Destinations forum, then people would see that they would not want to go to the C&O Canal trail because there are so few places to hang there. It would save someone from having a real disappointing trip!

Posters would have to keep it short and specific on why or why not to go there.

But I bow to our Moderators and their wisdom in these things,

[Crash]

Or you could search the Trip Reports subforum. Why don't we stick to the C&O Canal in this thread, rather than how the forum is run?

I searched the trip reports before hand and didn't see any C&O Canal trips.

The Problem with Trip Reports is it can contain anything. So you have to read a ton of excess to get to the substance. Trip reports on how your equipment worked or didn't, is important but a different report from Destinations.

Posters don't always list where the location really is. Many a time the location could be anywhere in this country. Where is Bay Circuit or Lake Hartwell to just name a few. List the State its in and the Nat, or State park its in would be so helpful. What you know the place as may not be what the rest of the country knows it as.

Destinations forum would be SPECIFIC info based on the location:
Title: Location, then Nat./State park/ State : i.e.:Blue Lakes, Delaware Water Gap National Park, New Jersey.
1-Trees - can you hang there, too many dead trees,
2-water - pump, spring, creek or lake, pollution,
3-terrain- hilly or rocky, difficult to access, too close to noise (interstates or civilation)
4-reasons to want to go there- great views, swimming, biking
5- things to avoid there- party hangouts,
6-Distances- approx miles in from the trailhead,

There's so much info to make hammocking a better way of camping that we all can benefit from. Hammocking is a different way of camping so helping out other hammockers and newbies by telling them where to camp or not to camp would surely help in this steep learning curve.

The C&O Canal trip brought to my attention on how locations can really effect your hammock camping trip. It could be life-threatening - lack of water, cliffs, rock slides, avalanches, etc.

I travel solo so I have to get more info to lessen the risks. But even multiple campers especially if they are newbies can be at risk from the unknown. Useful input from those who have been there before me can make the difference.

[Cannibal]

Crash-
Have you given any thoughts to the Google Map concept? I think that would be a fantastic resource to have available and a thread could always be started and made to be "Sticky" in the Forums. That would make it easy to find and anybody could go in and edit/add/remove locations. It would also eliminate the need to do a search here, which doesn't always work as well as one expects. :D

[angrysparrow]

There's so much info to make hammocking a better way of camping that we all can benefit from. Hammocking is a different way of camping so helping out other hammockers and newbies by telling them where to camp or not to camp would surely help in this steep learning curve.

I totally understand your point.

But, consider that hammocks are a means, not an end.

Unless you go to a 'hangout', you don't go somewhere 'to hammock'. You go to kayak, or hike, or bike, or snowshoe, or swim, or whatever. It is the activity that defines the trip, not the camping details. Therefore, 'Destinations' is a project best up to sites and forums about the activity...hiking, paddling, etc. and the places to do those activities.

Hammock Forums is great, because it is nicely focused. Broadening that focus won't necessarily improve it.

[Just Jeff]

It sounds like you have pretty strong feelings on the Destinations forum. Why don't you honcho the Google Maps idea? That way we could see the landscape around the site, and even plot the trails in the area. Regardless of my thoughts on keeping HF organized, I think Google Maps is a more effective way of doing what you're talking about. You want to take it on as a project?