So, I headed out on the AT in MD for my first back country hang. I'll skip the details of the hike itself, and focus on the hammocking part.
I'm using a HH Exp. Asym, Hex tarp, JRB No sniveler UQ, and Golite TQ.
The first evening I set up around 4 pm with temps around 31F. I focused on finding a site with trees between 12-15ft apart, and no small scrub underneath. I did not pay attention to area needed for tarp. As you can notice in the picture, I had to tie of end of the actual tarp around a small tree. No big deal, as it held up just fine.
I started off wearing a thermal shirt, micro fleece, and long sleeve hiking shirt. I also have a sea to summit fleece bag liner inside my TQ. It wasn't long before the fleece came off, followed shortly by the bag liner. Too warm. There was no breeze in the little draw I was set up in. Nice cozy spot.
Around 5 am I awoke to an odd noise. It was the sound of snow sliding down my tarp. A quick check of the temp. noted it was 23F. I was still toasty warm so I dozed calmly back off to sleep.
I got up around 7:30 and found packing out to be easier than in a shelter. Being able to stand under the tarp, pack beside me, and what amounts to a shelf (my hammock) to arrange and pack things was very nice.
The tarp shed the light snow with ease. It was a neat experience to be so comfortable and warm under these conditions. I got a little giddy with excitement on how awesome this was. I was definitely hooked on this hammock thing now!
day 2 on another post...
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