Weekend trip to Manti-La Sal National Forest near Manti, Utah.
I took my new Warbonnet Blackbird XLC out for its inaugural hang this weekend and I couldn't be happier with my decision to upgrade to the WBBB. I have been hammock camping for about five years and like a lot of people, I started with an ENO and I was hooked. I went from that to a Thommock hammock made by a member on HF and it was better because it was longer, but this Blackbird was awesome. I could immediately notice the increase in comfort level. The footbox and storage shelf were very nice additions to my previous setup. This was also my first night using a top quilt instead of a bag. I picked up a Snugpak TQ from Amazon at a reasonable price and I'm pretty much hooked on that as well. It was way more comfortable and will probably cost me more money as I upgrade it going into Fall. The Snugpak (w/ Jarbidge UQ) did great down to what I'm guessing was around 50 deg and could probably work at lower temps, but it gets below freezing quick in the fall at altitude in Utah.
The trees were pretty thick in the are that we set up camp. It was difficult to find trees far enough apart for mine and my son's hammocks, but luckily with hammocks we didn't have to worry about the ground cover.
This is a nearby peak to our camp site:
Nearby stream that I photographed while we were out 4-wheeling in my friends Land Rover:
Our campsite at about 7795 ft altitude:
No what is interesting here is that this mountainous national forest is home to a lot of cattle. I'm just not used to seeing cattle up in the mountains.
We did hear elk bugling during the night and had a deer in our campsite, but I don't have pics of that. I did get a pic of this bee that decided to visit us while he was out doing some pollination work:
Overall, it was a great trip, but too short. Luckily, I'll be going to Boy Scout Camp for a whole week next week at Bear Lake, Utah. Another chance to break in the Blackbird. Considering the camp's proximity to the lake, I'm sure that I will appreciate the Blackbird's bug netting that week.
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