Hey there,
I’d like to apologize to everyone on here that I’d been in contact with before my through hike that I’ve lost touch with. I haven’t been online much for awhile but I thought I’d give a report of how my trip went. I’d like to give a special thanks to Dutch for helping me rig up my hammock/tarp (I didn’t even know how to tie a marlin spike-hitch at the time) and UGQ for shipping out a beautiful 7/8 20 degree mult-icam UQ within a couple days - that helped me tremendously.
I did a flip-flop based out of Harpers Ferry, doing the north first. I used my WBBB & 3S Yeti all the way to Daleville, VA. With the weather getting colder I switched to a 1.0 Thunderbird & 7/8 UGQ 20 degree UQ with 2 oz of overstuff. The top cover on the thunderbird definitely made a huge difference and the UGQ UQ was very cozy and beautifully made. As the temp dropped into the low 30’s I started to get too cold as my 20 degree top quilt wasn’t quite sufficient for me (I’m a cold sleeper). I was warm from underneath though. Looking back I wish I would have gotten 0 degree & 30 degree top quilts instead of a 20 and a 50. The 50 got a bit cold for me in the Whites in July. I slept in two shelters for the whole hike up until Damascus and in both cases I strung up my hammock. It was a great feeling to be able to camp basically anywhere I wanted to and not be attached to staying at a shelter (water is the only factor). This certainly contributed to my slow speed - many days after around 10 miles I would come across a perfect hammock spot and set up & relax the rest of the day. But what a blissful existence it was.
Anyways, I hate to say it but I sent my hammock and tarp home at Damascus and shelter hopped for the last 500 miles. Being that it got down to 9 degrees some nights I was using both my 20 degree HG TQ and my 7/8 UGQ UQ to stay warm while sleeping on a big agnes air mattress. It was actually a pretty nice mattress when laying on my back but it got so cold sometimes that I had to curl up on my side in a fetal position to stay warm - and this made me pretty stiff in the mornings and I missed my hammock dearly.
I just finished putting together a youtube video with highlights from my hike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnLC...ature=youtu.be
Enjoy.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks