Hammock Failure on the AT
Ok, so I'm back a lot sooner from my AT section hike than I'd planned. It's a long story. Have a minute? Ok........I got shuttled up to I-40 by Keith & Melissa, the owners of Creek Ridge Camping (www.creekridgecamping.com, sorry for the shameless plug, but they did shuttle me for free!) Thanks Keith & Melissa!! :D I really had a great start to my hike, the first 5 miles up to Snowbird Mountain were quite challenging for me, but not impossible. Besides, the view from the top made it all well worth it. When I got to Groundhog Creek Shelter, there were 7 others there for the night, 2 guys from Alabama, 4 guys from a church in Georgia (More on them in a minute) and another section hiker named Blackbeard. One of the guys from AL was hanging for the first time that night, having bought an HH at TD. I got my hammock and tarp up, the went to finish settling in, get general camp chores done and get some dinner in me. I was STARVED! We all sat up taking until a little after dark and we started to turn in, one by one. I have to admit, the comfort of my hammock was very welcome. It again reminded me why I dislike sleeping on the ground so much. I slept like a baby, as always in my hammock, until around 0100 and had to get up to water the trees. Afterward, I got back in, zipped my bag back up and started to doze off. I rolled over onto my right side and then it happened. RIIIIIIPPPPPPP!!!!!! :eek: Before I knew what happpened, I was dropped on the ground onto my right shoulder. :mad: Ouch! I got my headlamp on to survey the damage and find out what actually happened. I appreads that the seam on the right side of the hammock gave way and dropped me like a bad habit. The shelter being full, I slept the rest of the rest of the night, very fitfully at best, on the ground under the tarp. :mad: I told everyone what happened at breakfast as we were all talking. I had originally planned to finish the hike and just suck it up and stay in the shelters along the way, but the more I moved around, the more my shoulder hurt. Much to my disappointment, I decided to call this hike to an end. I kept telling myself that discretion is the better part of valor. The group of 4 guys from GA had their car parked at Standing Bear Farm and offered me a ride back to Hot Springs where my car was parked. Whew! That took a lot off me, because I was worried about how much a shuttle from SB to HS would cost me (I was on a budget). So, after a rather uncomfortable hike back to Standing Bear, I got a ride back and the guys wouldn't even let me give them gas money. Many thanks to this group of guys, they were great! :) So now I'm Back in Kentucky, stuch with an ENO SingleNest with a big fat tear in it. I'm going to contact Pete @ ENO today and see if they'll replace it for me. If not, it seems that this is the perfect time to get started on a DIY project or 2. Anyway, sorry to ramble on so, hope you guys have a good time at the SEHHA Hangout this weekend! Enjoy! :D