61 year old, former Marine (old enough to remember having to carry C-rats in my backpack). Now, I'm somewhere between a hammocking DIY'er and ultralight, gram weenie backpacker. I own 7 hammocks, and if I get one more, my wife will murderize me. I began my hammocking/backpacking journey 16 years ago with a Hennessy Asym with built in bug net and ridgeline. For cooler weather (no mosquitoes), I use my Eno doublenest. I use a Eno Superfly tarp for both hammocks (the Hennessy provided tarp was just too small for covering my other gear and firewood). My underquilt is an Outdoor Vitals Down (0-degree F) for mid-30's F and below. And I use an insulated air mattress for the 40's F and Reflectix for the 50's F and above. For extreme cold weather, I have done extensive testing (in my backyard) using various combinations of air mattresses and Reflectix. It's taken me 16-years of solo backpacking in northern Minnesota and years of YouTube viewing (thanks, Shug!) to finally fine-tune my hammock and insulation gear combo for an almost guaranteed good night sleep!
As I get older (and time seems to accelerate), I find myself heading north more often - for a 2-3 night section hike. While I am still an avid runner and biker and stay in good shape, I am now all about the overlooks, campsites, video, photography and camaraderie on the trail. While I'm sure I could push myself 10-15 miles, I now try to keep it to about 5-6 miles a day. Any more, and I might miss something. I'd rather get to camp, take my time setting up everything (just right), getting my gravity-fed water going, gathering firewood, and sitting back in my UL chair and enjoying the sites and sounds. In the morning, I trudge on to my next campsite and repeat all over again.
Bookmarks