+1 on Glorietta Mesa! Ah, the lights of Santa Fe ...
+1 on Glorietta Mesa! Ah, the lights of Santa Fe ...
On the last night of my 1st week in a hammock, I broke the wonderful rule of finding a sheltered spot. My ground dwelling buds wanted to stay at a certain spot, and I wanted to stay near them, plus exhaustion and sunset were encouraging us to make camp right then and there. But there were very few usable trees to choose from unless I left them to find a more sheltered spot which I definitely could have found. I pitched my HH with tiny diamond tarp and HHSS foot first towards the lake a few feet away. There was a very strong wing blasting into the foot end of my tarp right off of that lake. Once I was in, I was amazed that I was warm (guessing temps somewhere between high 30s and 40s plus wind chill just not sure, lowest that week was 22F). The noise of the flapping tarp nearly drove me whacko for 30 minutes or so, but I finally passed out and did not awaken until there was bright sunshine. Once asleep, I had a wonderfully warm, restful night. Apparently the Sil-nylon Undercover made up for the tiny HH tarp, and except for the danged noise I was well protected from the wind which buffeted my hammock all night long. To this day, that remains the biggest wind challenge I have faced.Originally Posted by nyhiker50
The best way to enjoy is to find a sheltered place. You must have been in a bad spot. I would have tried to find a place behind rocks, in between trees, or dare I say it..... on the ground behind some logs. There, I said it. Anywhere you can find a wind break. Don't overlook the lee side of a hill. I am very experienced at this. You should try the Catskills in the very maw of winter.
It was only later that I learned about that wonderful hammock advantage of being able to hang where the wind is blocked by a hill or whatever. But even if I had known, I don't think I would have left the group to take advantage of it. Especially in that Griz country, I like to be with the group, plus the social aspect.
Hmm last time I saw you in February and correct me if I was wrong the sun was setting and the wind was blowing from that direction and your tent was into the wind - I don't remember feet or back first... it was a blow then about 25-35 and winter... I had more gear so it wasn't an issue.
There was an Old Man with a owl,
Who continued to bother and howl;
He sat on a rail, And imbibed bitter ale,
Which refreshed that Old Man and his owl.WOO
I kinda like the wild see-sawing effect throughout the night...you & the tree's swaying with the gusts.
Lulled to sleep dreaming of a salty sea dogs life, riding the crests & troughs of the seven seas, briney blood running through my veins.
Getting back on track..
As others have said, if its weathers that bad, move to more sheltered spot, hang lower to the ground, turn into the wind, stretchy tie downs...or just hang on for dear life & worry about...are my pegs going to hold, will the material hold up ?
Last w/end....renamed this spot 'windy ridge', in honour of the roaring gusts that pummelled me from both sides of the ridge, all night long.
Survived to hang another day....
Mountain views are good for the soul....& getting to them is good for my waistline.
https://ofuros.exposure.co/
uh I agree.. I was with a great group of people and the first night it was several miles to get off the ridge, the second night a ridge runner informed us of where the camp site was and again I was trumped on the wrong side of the ridge... didn't want to address it, looked at a map and I would have to go another 2 miles after 12 in short Worthington forest treats (IMO) section hikers as a nuisance. We had passed a perfect place with a small stream on the lea side of the mountain in a culvert sheltered that had been closed years before, you could clearly see it was a great site back in the day. If it makes sense - there aught to be a law against it.... woo.
There was an Old Man with a owl,
Who continued to bother and howl;
He sat on a rail, And imbibed bitter ale,
Which refreshed that Old Man and his owl.WOO
I was not deliberately angling my tarp into the wind. The trees just happened to be situated that way. I suppose it is better to take the wind head or feet first (seems like head would be better to me 'cause my feet get cold easily). I certainly don't like taking the wind broadside and being slapped in the face by the tarp.
I do like my doors 'cause I can pitch the tarp low and not concern myself with the wind as much. I did a little googling on prevailing winds in NJ and found this article that explains NJ has five different climate zones (who knew):
http://climate.rutgers.edu/stateclim...et=NJCoverview
While prevailing wind in NJ is primarily west-to-east, we all know it can shift with a Nor'easter, a cold front, or whatever.
This article about air quality in NJ has some interesting anecdotal information on prevailing winds. In some of the areas listed, the wind can come from the same direction 60 to 80% of the year. There's no info on the coastal zone, but i would imagine it is highly unpredictable.
http://www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/20...2.1_r02_NJ.pdf
Since I live in the coastal zone, where winds shift frequently (sometimes it's westerly, sometimes the wind comes off the ocean east to west), this really influences my thinking. Most of my hanging experience is in the coastal zone, and the winds are not very predictable.
I find myself not trying to set up my hammock according to prevailing winds. It's too darned unpredictable in a day, well enough a year. Doors on the tarp allow me to go to bed without worrying about if the winds shift in the middle of the night.
If I lived in a place with more predictable prevailing winds, I might have a tried and true formula for tackling wind., but I don't. Therefore doors will remain my solution.
Why was it closed, site restoration or something?
I think I went by that exact location last year - signs all over the place saying no camping, and it's a really great spot. That section of trail is not particularly friendly - I had a ranger follow me for three miles - at night - to make sure I didn't stealth camp in forbidden areas.
Good to hear....seeing that you hike a lot at night. If he got a blister or two for his troubles, certainly served him right.
Signature suspended
Yes site restoration, too many rules, and SS was followed with a ridge runner, I met him too.
There was an Old Man with a owl,
Who continued to bother and howl;
He sat on a rail, And imbibed bitter ale,
Which refreshed that Old Man and his owl.WOO
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