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  1. #1
    Senior Member dblhmmck's Avatar
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    Hammock in Escalante River Area

    I hike in Southern Utah often. It takes a full travel day from California, so I made a reservation at the State Park in Goblin Valley to car camp the first night. It was a good place to stay, one of the few campgrounds in the area with showers. It also has covered picnic tables at each campsite. These proved adequate to hold my hammock. goblin_campground.jpgThe wind was whipping through that place, especially around dawn and dusk. It was the strongest wind that I ever experienced while hammock camping, but I actually slept very well.

    The beginning of the trail was at a place called Egypt bench near Escalante. After descending the bench, the lower mesa gives access to Fence Canyon, which is one of many tributaries into the Escalante River. The landscape is particularly great around Escalante; very rugged. beavertail_blooms.jpg I've used hammocks in the Escalante area several times in the past. Sometimes it has been hard to find trees, but I have manage to find a way (by bringing some extra rope).

    This trip was the most hammock friendly of any I've taken in the area, because there were many trees to hang from.choprock_hang.jpg There were a lot of cottonwood trees and miraculously what appeared to be a pre-Columbian dwarf who is holding up the other end of my hammock. Actually, the other end is held up by another cottonwood tree.

    I didn't use my tarp on the entire trip, and I really liked having the visibility of the gathering light in the mornings.hammock_in_choprock.jpg

    The camp at Baker Canyon was particularly scenic. We found out the next day that we had made camp very near some petroglyphs.petro_large.jpgAt this site, I hung from oak trees in a shaded ledge above the canyon floor. hammock_baker_canyon.jpg My friend had a tarptent, if you look just behind and to the left of the tent you can see my hammock hanging in the trees (much stealthier than the tent).baker_campsite_close.jpg Escalante is one of the real gems of Southern, Utah. And many areas are hammock friendly, especially the area near Egypt Bench.
    Last edited by dblhmmck; 05-18-2010 at 03:36.

  2. #2
    Senior Member NCPatrick's Avatar
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    Thanks for posting this. It's great to see the hammocks working well in the different landscapes. Glad you had a good trip!


    "Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
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    “I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.”
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  3. #3
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    Cool trip. I think I would have been afraid to hang my hammock as high as you did in the covered picnic table pic.

  4. #4
    Senior Member drewboy's Avatar
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    Hey Victor, great pics and it looks like a memorable trip for sure. People act surprised when they see how possible hanging is, even in these high desert areas. Without a doubt, hanging under the stars without a tarp is the way to go. The tarp has not made it out of my pack the last few trips, and I'm loving it.

  5. #5
    Senior Member mbiraman's Avatar
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    Beautiful area . Thanks for posting.
    " The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it."

    “The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away.” ~Wayne Dyer

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  6. #6
    Senior Member dblhmmck's Avatar
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    Talking

    Cool trip. I think I would have been afraid to hang my hammock as high as you did in the covered picnic table pic.
    You make a good point poker88, I could have mounted it lower by at least a foot, but it would have interfered more with activities around the table. The challenge for me was the wind. It was blowing so hard, that while I was getting my neck pillow ready, my quilt blew out of the hammock. I finally found it over 100 feet away, and later tied the bottom drawcord of the quilt to the hammock, so that it wouldn't happen again. But if any small edge of quilt was left untucked, the wind would wedge it's way in and try to blow the covers off. The bounce and sway of the hammock due to wind was very noticable, but at least the suspension was tied very close to the hammock body, which probably helped to reduce the sway a little bit.

    Hey Victor, great pics and it looks like a memorable trip for sure. People act surprised when they see how possible hanging is, even in these high desert areas.
    Thanks drewboy! Yes, very memorable and I want to go back in the Fall! I should mention that in preparation I used Google Earth. I noticed greenery on the canyon floors along this stretch of the Escalante and it's side canyons. I was encouraged by this. But I couldn't tell if they were mature trees or small willows. I hedged my bet by bringing a 19 ounce inflatable ocf pad for bottom insulation. (This is in addition to the IX built into the DIY bridge hammock.) The pad was about 7 ounces heavier than my "Leigh's 2/3 UQ". I slept warm in temperatures near freezing with howling winds, the ocf pad seemed well suited to these conditions- perhaps better than my UQ. So, due to the great performance and comfort of the pad, I wasn't feeling too bad about carrying the extra weight. And of course, it gave me peace of mind to know that I had go-to-ground capability if it were needed.

    Thanks mbiraman and NCPatrick for expressing gratitude for the post.

  7. #7
    Senior Member mbiraman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dblhmmck View Post
    You make a good point poker88, I could have mounted it lower by at least a foot, but it would have interfered more with activities around the table. The challenge for me was the wind. It was blowing so hard, that while I was getting my neck pillow ready, my quilt blew out of the hammock. I finally found it over 100 feet away, and later tied the bottom drawcord of the quilt to the hammock, so that it wouldn't happen again. But if any small edge of quilt was left untucked, the wind would wedge it's way in and try to blow the covers off. The bounce and sway of the hammock due to wind was very noticable, but at least the suspension was tied very close to the hammock body, which probably helped to reduce the sway a little bit.



    Thanks drewboy! Yes, very memorable and I want to go back in the Fall! I should mention that in preparation I used Google Earth. I noticed greenery on the canyon floors along this stretch of the Escalante and it's side canyons. I was encouraged by this. But I couldn't tell if they were mature trees or small willows. I hedged my bet by bringing a 19 ounce inflatable ocf pad for bottom insulation. (This is in addition to the IX built into the DIY bridge hammock.) The pad was about 7 ounces heavier than my "Leigh's 2/3 UQ". I slept warm in temperatures near freezing with howling winds, the ocf pad seemed well suited to these conditions- perhaps better than my UQ. So, due to the great performance and comfort of the pad, I wasn't feeling too bad about carrying the extra weight. And of course, it gave me peace of mind to know that I had go-to-ground capability if it were needed.

    Thanks mbiraman and NCPatrick for expressing gratitude for the post.
    Yes ; google earth is a good tool for checking things out. In my area there are a couple of long lakes and i used GE to find beaches with no roads to them so i could kayak to it and hang.
    " The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it."

    “The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away.” ~Wayne Dyer

    www.birchsidecustomwoodwork.com

  8. #8
    Senior Member drewboy's Avatar
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    I couldn't agree more. I scouted out some camping/hanging spots for a backpacking trip last year and had great results.

    Quote Originally Posted by mbiraman View Post
    Yes ; google earth is a good tool for checking things out. In my area there are a couple of long lakes and i used GE to find beaches with no roads to them so i could kayak to it and hang.

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