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  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    Oct 2011
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    Quick Trip: One day in the Grand canyon and One Day at Lake Powell

    Our camp in the Grand Canyon:



    We were car camping with my sister-in-law her two daughters and a boyfriend. We had no problem with a suitable spot to hang, all the campsites had lots of trees


    My wife's DangerBird 60 SL with the over cover partially deployed. (She used her Hammock Gear 0 Deg full length UQ and her 20 Deg HG TQ) She sleepy really well and nice and cozy, just he way she likes it

    An interesting side note: The tent dwellers brought a full queen air mattress and my sister-in-law woke up early the next morning with a killer back ache, it was so bad that she was heading to her car to grab some Advil. She decided to stop in at my wife's hammock the checkout he she was doing. My wife went into a sales pitch about the Danger Bird and invited her sister to try it out and have a quick hang. She got in and got a big smile on her face once the comfort and warmth started kicking in. She said "this is nice!" and my wife went and hung out with me in my hammock for a while. We thought we would give her sister 10 minutes of so to get a good feel for the hammock. The next thing we know, she is totally asleep. About 1.5 - 2 hours later she finally wakes up. She said that short nap was a better sleep than she got the whole previous night and then she tells us that her back pain is almost completely gone. She is totally amazed and shocked at how comfortable, warm, and even therapeutic the hammock is. Another convert!


    My wife chilling in our little Trek Light gear hammock


    My Dangerbird 72 DL and Hennessy Hammock Tarp - it rained of and on the whole night, we stayed dry and warm all night

    ============
    Lake Powell
    ============

    We asked for a site with some trees and were told "...There are trees on the sites and you will probably get one with trees..." but no commitment. We arrived to find only one suitable hammock tree. Luckily it was right next to the car pull through. I decided to try hooking up to my Xterra's cargo carrier. I had googled and searched for anyone else doing this kind of thing with their Xterra before going and it seemed plausable. As you can tell it worked like a champ:






    A close up of my connection method on my Nissan Xterra. I figured that attaching to the base of the support would put the best distribution of horizontal force on it - I wanted the force to be carried by the metal hex screws as much as possible and by the plastic as little as possible.


    The other end of my connection - just a standard tree hugger and carabineer. I just use a carabineer as the toggle and hook right into it. No problems, ever.


    As you can see, it worked great! I got no crazy plastic cracking or creaking sounds, it felt rock solid. I weigh about 205-210 and it held me just fine all night.

    I slept really well with no cover deployed and I just drifted off into sleep stating at the stars and the full moon. The low for the night was in the high 60's but with a nice breeze. I ended up using both my 20 deg HG UQ and TQ. I slept clear through the night until 5 am for a call of nature and then I slept until 7:30 am again. I felt great!

    Interestingly though, my wife was not willing to hang off the car because I had never done it before and she was afraid of a failure and fall. So I folded down the seats in the Xterra and put down a foam pad for her. She slept miserably. She was hot even with all the windows down and she had lots of hip pain and was never able to get comfortable. She got a lot of hammock appreciation out of it though. The tent dwellers had an even worse time with the heat. None of them slept well at all. They all woke up sleep deprived, sore and sweaty. With every ache and complaint from them, I grew to love and appreciate my hammock even more

  2. #2
    Senior Member SkyPainter's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
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    Stoneham, MA
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    WBBB; WBRR; WBXLC;HH Exped
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    Now THAT is a great trip report! Was to represent! Glad it was a good time!

    ~ Sky
    Live Purposefully; Dare Greatly; Land Gently

    If you're going to do something wrong, go for it! - Beryl G.

    "Never knock on Death's door - just ring the bell and run. He hates that!"

  3. #3
    Senior Member Loki's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Western, NC
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    bigger is better;)
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    If it aint Dutch..
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    Nicely written Trip Report! Congrats on the new convert! Thanks for the pics too.
    - Loki my videos
    "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
    Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
    The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy,
    while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn." — John Muir


  4. #4
    Senior Member Les Rust's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Athens, TN
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    Cool to hear about the new convert. I would love to make it to the Grand Canyon sometime in the near future. Where were you camped? I would like to hike down and camp down at Bright Angel Campground as well, if you know anything about that one. Great trip report.

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