We live in MA. Even here it gets too hot (humid) for us trekking. Camping is different and we head off to Cape Cod and the seacoast for that.
July and August we head 3 hours North for backpacking. Northern NH is always more comfortable. Like someone else said above, we go higher in elevation those months.
I would need a snorkel in the deep South.
What most use as a solution - higher elevation - is just not possible for SOME of us in the South. The highest elevation in all of NEFlorida is the Dame's Point Bridge...and they surely wouldn't approve of us hanging there...
I would happily hang outdoors if the temps here got into the 60s and 70s at night - but those days are gone, now that it's June. If it's not raining, it's humid as Hell and the bugs are having a population boom!
I like hangin' with Mad777 & Olddog - when they're done, I'm done. Even those stalwart Southern Gentlemen go north to hang outdoors after May Day. FLRider is an anomaly - haven't seen weather stop him yet! Then again, he's much younger than we are...
That said, my indoor hammock is very comfy.
kc -- fulltime hammocker, thanks to Olddog, Samsara, and Duffy!
Real Freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization. ~ Charles Lindbergh
Agreeing with others.
Seek higher elevations, especially where a lake, a cooling mountain stream or a river provides a spot to splash, wade, swim, bathe, or sit under a waterfall. Also a good time for paddling
Hyperkewl makes useful hats.
FroggToggs makes cooling towels which can be cut and shaped for various uses.
And, Kafka's Cool Tie works wonders too.
Last edited by Loki; 06-07-2013 at 07:41.
- 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
Depends on the water availability, shade I might expect, opportunities to cool off in a river/lake... Last year, I went on my first real backpacking trip on the Chattoogah River Trail over the July 4th weekend. Temps were literally in the high 90's to low 100's. I didn't fully appreciate how horrible that weather was until this year when we went to the Cohutta Wilderness and hiked longer distances on trails that were several orders of magnitude steeper (both up and down). I felt far less exhausted after that trip.
"The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can.
Pursuing it with eager feet
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."
~Bilbo Baggins - LotR
I usually quit when daytime temps hit the 80's, usually around April Fools Day here. Until around Halloween. But this year I think I may try a no-underquilt hang during the heat....
Something hidden. Go and find it. Go, and look behind the Ranges. Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you . . . Go! - Rudyard Kipling
I don't stop. Cold or hot I just enjoy being out there! Yes some temps are more comfortable than others. When it's hot we head to The Sipsey (North West Alabama). Okay i confess it's awesome up there so we go there more often than other places...lolOriginally Posted by CLANKBANG
As others have said higher elevations and around water (if possible) and acclimation help. And the main reason we go to the Sip is because of the rock formations. You can find cool pockets in and around them. Another is we have been up there in August and it might just be the difference in temp of the air vs water, but the water in the Sipsey River and Borden Creek is always cold.
I also like to hang over the streams around the rocks and waterfalls. And this might be just a psychological thing for me, but if i get hot i just drop my bare foot in the water and i'm good to go.
In fact we are going to go up there in two weeks...21, 22 and 23rd. When it's hot and sticky we find one camp site for the trip and take small sight seeing day hikes with no packs...instead of making a 3 day loop. I'm a kid at heart so i can find fun things to do around camp and not get bored. It works for us...but HYOH.
Last edited by HeathC; 06-09-2013 at 15:18.
It's a hammock thing, you won't understand!
The wife no longer kicks me out of bed after she saw a hammock hanging in the dog house.
The hotter it gets the higher I go. I am headed above 4000' next weekend to try and beat the heat. When I lived in GA I would head for the highest mountain area I could.
For me I used to hate sleeping out above 75*. Now its not so bad. I have a small ridgeline fan I set blowing on me. The more I sweat the cooler I feel. Only thing that sucks is I have yet to find one small enough and runs more than 4 hours without a battery change. Lucy for me I carry two fans.
Yosemite Sam: Are you trying to make me look a fool?
Bugs: You don't need me to make you look like a fool.
Yosemite Sam: Yer deerrrnnn right I don't!
Last year I went to black balsam knob on the BRP. This was in August, when temps in Columbia SC were 95-100. When we got to Pisgah Mountain we walked to the top, and it was about 60, cloudy and misty. By the time we got to Black Balsam, it was below 60, misted all night and got down in the hi 40s. The next day was sunny and maybe 75, while we picked blueberries on the mountain. When we got to Columbia that evening, it was still around 85-90.
So temperatures can be dealt with even in August. You just have to go up up up!
We camped at Mt Mitchell last July and it was very cool
I'm thinking that when the lows are around 75 its time to call it.
90 at 8 or 9 am is not much fun at all.
Last edited by CLANKBANG; 06-10-2013 at 16:08.
The happiest people don't have the best of everything; They just make the best of everything.
The richest person is not the one who has the most but the one who needs the least. (unkown)
and of course There are A LOT of chickens in China.
NPR correspondent-- Hong Kong
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