Joined HF in 2009 after I started taking my then 9, 7, and 5 year olds on overnight river trips in VA and WV,,, I was tent camping then.
HF member "Animalcontrol" sold me an original blue/yellow HH explorer for $50 and my life changed.
My kids grew up river camping out of canoes, then kayaks, at one point we had 8 kayaks. They never went to Disney or any fancy vacation,, we went on 2-6 overnight river fishing trips a year.
2 HH Explorers, 2 HH UL Backpackers, a HH Safari, a HH Jungle, A wide Dream Hammock Darien, A WBBB XL, tons of DIY UQs, etc, etc.
The last 5 years was me and the youngest who is now 21, hitting the river hard, one summer 6-7 overnighters.
My gear had long since been dialed in for our moderate temps,, I had every bag and tote organized and labeled,, and even had custom check lists that allowed us to pack and load for an over-nighter in 15 minutes. I was enjoying time on the river,, but not realized I had grown stagnant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=942mvwIt9qY
So,, never willingly entertained the idea of Winter camping,, But after daughter got married and moved to Cheyenne WY,, middle son graduated and moved 40 minutes from her in CO.
Fast forward last weekend,,, 3 days of remote elk hunting in The Medicine Bow range, elev 10,000 feet, 9 deg and 40 mph winds at night,,
Daughter and SIL stayed in a small wall tent with mini wood stove,, Son got a Chameleon with 0 deg zip on UQ, sleeping bag, winter sock and winter cover.
I had my DH Darien, 2 (doubled up) Climashield UQ's, cheap 50 deg sleeping bag, 2 Cosco TQs, and we each had a cheap Amazon "Onewind" winter tarp.
We cheated and had 3-4 "hot hands" shoved down our sleeping bags,, that modest heat source pushed me over the edge of keeping warm.
I am now obsessed with winter Hammock camping,,
Dived back into Shugs videos,,,
My Lord we have all aged!!!
Bookmarks