Tag Archives: hammock camping

Sara Goes Hammock Camping …Again! – Hiking & Pancakes in Virginia

Posted on by
5

Join Sara and I for some hiking, trail cooking, and backpacking on  a hammock camping trip in Shenandoah National Park.

For this hiking adventure, Sara and I will be revisiting Shenandoah National park for Sara’s second dose of hammock camping out in the wild along with a healthy dose of backcountry cooking and camp food. We did a previous backpacking trip not too far from here in Shenandoah a mere two weeks before, and it went quite well.  It wasn’t, however, exactly the experience that we had set out to do.

You see, for that particular trip, I may have sold it as a rather relaxed excursion.  And depending on your perspective, it very well may have been just that.  But for Sara, who’s most recent backpacking memories prior to that trip were that of a grueling elevation-fest through the White Mountains, it wasn’t quite the reprieve we were looking for.

The required prescription was a high dose of low mileage, potent lounging, and dense pancakes.  Thankfully, the trip seen in this video hit the spot.  Below are some details and trip data for the trip, although there isn’t much of it.  But that’s exactly what we were going for.  Check out my Trip Data Page to get full GPS data for this trip.

Parking:  Meadow Spring Trailhead (Mile 34 on Skyline Drive)
N38° 38.304′ W78° 18.823′

Day 1 Trails Used (in order):
Hazel Mountain Trail
Turn Left on White Rocks Trail
Camp along White Rocks Trail (see my GPS Data for potential campsites on either side of trail)
After setting up camp, take a half mile round trip down to Hazel Falls, for happy hour.

Hazel Falls Day 1 Elevation Profile - Sintax77

Day 1 Stats:
Mileage: 3.2 miles (includes half mile excursion from camp down to Hazel Falls and back)
Gross Elevation Gain: 390′
Gross Elevation Loss: 1,175′

Day 2 Trails Used (in order):
Wake Up, Eat Pancakes (this is important – trip will not work properly without this step!)
White Rocks Trail
Right on Hazel Creek Trail

Hazel Falls Day 2 Elevation Profile - Sintax77

Day 2 Stats:
Mileage: 2.5 miles (not nearly enough to burn off those pancakes, you’re gonna have to go to the gym tomorrow…)
Gross Elevation Gain: 699′
Gross Elevation Loss: 75′

Total Mileage for Trip: 5.7 Miles

Hazel Falls 2 Day Trip Route Overview- Sintax77

Notable Gear Used for Sara:
Dutchware NylonD Hammock with Aluminum Cinch Buckles & Nylon Tree Straps
Hennessy Deluxe Tarp (10′ x 12′ 70D Polyester)
Hammock Gear Burrow 20° Top Quilt
Hammock Gear Incubator 0° Underquilt
Osprey Hornet 46 Backpack (See my Gear List using this pack here)
Thorfire BD04 USB rechargable LED Flashlight
Princeton Tech Byte Headlamp
ThruNight Titanium Keychain LED Flashlight
EMS Knitted Hat

Notable Gear Used for Shawn:
Dream Hammock Darien Ultralight Hammock (see my video on it here)
Hammock Gear Cuben Hex Tarp
Hammock Gear Burrow 40° Top Quilt
Hammock Gear Incubator 40° Underquilt w/ Epsilon 1.5 Multicam Fabric (see my video on it here)
EMS Longtrail 70 Backpack
4Sevens Preon 2 LED Flashlight
Fenix HL21 Headlamp (watch my review video here)
Generic Canister Stove (watch my review video here)
MSR Flex Skillet w/ cheap dollar store utensils for cooking

Notable Backpacking Food for this Trip:
Bisquick Shake ‘n Pour Pancake Mix
Packit Gourmet Dehydrated Maple Syrup and Blueberries
Packit Gourmet Queso Dip with a regular ol’ bag of Tostito’s Scoops (wheat, because we’re obviously healthy and stuff)
Packit Gourmet Texas State Fair Chili (I lost my mind eating this stuff on this winter video, after climbing Mt Washington)

 

SinChats – Sintax77 on the ‘Hang Your Own Hang’ Podcast

Posted on by
2

I recently had the opportunity to do an appearance on a relatively new podcast geared towards those of use who prefer to sleep above the ground.  About a month or two ago, the hosts, Jonathan and Mark, sent me an invite to do an in person recording while Jonathan was not to far from my hometown on business.  In the time since, I’ve actually listened to all of their podcasts so far and have been enjoying the opportunity to listen to an outdoors podcast that really focuses on hammock camping specifically.

So far, they’ve had some pretty cool guest from the hammock camping industry / scene, including Tom Hennessey, Dutch from Dutchware Gear, Shug Emery, and Derek Hanson.  From talking to Jonathan, it sounds like they’ve got even more interesting guests lined up for the rest of 2016, so it should make for some good listening in the future.  Hopefully my appearance doesn’t pull that curve down too far  😉

For the SinChats video, I take a little trip down memory lane of the various talk radio shows and podcasts that I’ve enjoyed and been influenced by over the years, along with a discussion of camping and backpacking specific podcasts that are available out on the internet.  So, what are your favorite outdoor, camping, or backpacking podcasts?

Visit the official Hang Your Own Hang Podcast website to stream or download the episode.

 

First Look – Apex Tarp Shelter by GO! Outfitters

Posted on by
1

Taking a look at my second item from GO! Outfitters, the Apex Tarp Shelter.

This is an 11′ x 9.5′ 70D Polyester Tarp that comes standard with 6 aluminum stakes and 8 guy-lines which can be configured in a variety of ways in conjunction with the Apex tarp’s 20 tie-out points. Personally, I’ll probably tie permanent lines to the 4 main corners and use removable a removable setup (either via larks head or hardware, like Dutch Hookworms) for the remaining lines for maximum adaptability on the fly.

**A note on the side middle side tie-outs: The official production model has the middle tie-outs on each side, unlike the configuration seen in this video. I believe this was simply due it being a pre-production model.

The tarp itself weighs 20 oz. Included guy-lines and aluminum stakes weigh a total of 8 ounces. I can see this tarp work great with any of my current camping hammocks, or as a nice stand alone shelter for minimalist ground sleeping situations. Color options are Forest Green, as seen and Slate Grey. There are also plans for an additional door kit as well, which may shed some light on the importance of those extra tie-out points on each side.

For full specs and the latest details, check out their Apex Shelter Kickstarter Page.

First Look – GO! Outfitters Hammock System

Posted on by
4

Taking a look at a new hammock I’m testing out, the GO! Hammock by GO! Outfitters.

This is an 11 foot by 70 inch wide, netless, 70D camping hammock, available with or without the cinch buckle and nylon webbing strap suspension system. They also make a full bug net version as well, but I’m looking forward to giving it a spin for some cooler weather and winter backpacking, so netless should work out just fine for now.

For full specs and details check out the official GO! Outfitters website.

Or their original Kickstarter page by clicking here (funding complete).

Hiking the Whites – Zeke’s First Backpacking Trip

Posted on by
Reply

Join Mike, TJ and I for 4 days of hiking & camping as we initiate our friend Zeke on his very first backpacking trip!

For this backpacking trip, we’ll be visiting one of my favorite areas, the White Mountains, for a counterclockwise Pemi Loop.  While I’ve previously done this loop as a solo hike, I switched things up this time by doing the loop in the opposite direction, starting with Bondcliff Trail and the Bonds and ending with a traverse of Franconia Ridge to return to the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center where we started. We also stretched the hike out to 4 days and 3 nights.  This enabled us to get some more camping and exploring in, and also let us do less miles per day, since this was our friend’s first backpacking experience.  The White Mountains are home to some of the most aggressive hiking trails in the country, and our goal was to make sure he actually wanted to do this again!

If you’ve never done a Pemi Loop before and are looking for some more logistics, trail listings, etc, feel free to check out my previous solo video.  For this video, we’ll be focusing more the amazing views, camp camaraderie and of course, the biggest question – will Zeke ever want to do this again?  Or will he want to push us off one of the numerous precipices that the Pemigewasset Wilderness has to offer…

 For info on the “helicopter situation” click here for a link to an August 28th post the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team’s Facebook page.

 A note on GPS Data: I didn’t record new GPS track data for this trip, as the data from my previous trip pretty much covers the route (in reverse of course) and includes waypoints for points of interest included in that video as well as this one.  I also tagged a decent amount of extra potential tent and hammock camping spots as I hiked, which some may find useful if looking for alternative camping spots.

Notable Items and Gear that may be of interest:

My hammock – Dream Hammock Darien, single layer.
Mike’s Hammock – Dream Hammock Thunderbird, double layer
TJ’s hammock – Dutchware NylonD hammock, 11 foot, single layer with Dutchware Summer Sock

Zeke’s Tent – Marmot Eos 1P Tent

Myself and Mike’s tarps – Both are Hammock Gear Cuben Hex Tarps with 11 foot ridge lines.

TJ’s Tarp – Hennessy Deluxe Tarp, 70D model, 12’x10′

 My underquilt – Hammock Gear Phoenix 30°
TJ’s underquilt – Hammock Gear Incubator 40° (seen up close in my earlier post here)

Mike’s underquilt – HG Phoenix 20°

Top Quilts – Hammock Gear Burrow 40° for me and HG Burrow 20° for Mike (TJ used a “regular” down sleeping bag as a quilt.)
My backpack – Osprey Hornet 46 (no longer in production)
Mikes backpack – Osprey Exos 58
Zeke’s backpack – Gregory Contour 70

Dehydrated meals tried in the video:  Mountain House, Packit Gourmet, and Alpine Aire.

Amok Draumr 3.0 – A Super Flat Hammock? – First Look

Posted on by
1

An unboxing and first look at the Amok Draumr 3.0 hammock for camping, backpacking, & lounging. 

This a quite different looking, flat laying hammock that is specifically made to work with your existing sleeping pad. It looks pretty cool – almost like a floating one person tent! Stay tuned for updates usage in the field on upcoming backpacking and hammock camping trips.

Specs and info, as per the manufacturer:

*Suspension and bug net included. Available with and without tarp.

  • Hammock weight:
    1340 g / 47 oz (without tarp)
    2056 g / 72 oz (including tarp/stakes)
  • Capacity:
    150 kg / 330 lb max weight
    22 kN carabiners
  • Tree distance:
    minimum 2.5 m, maximum 6 m.
  • Use of the hammock:
    The hammock requires an inflatable sleeping pad – you can read about size recommendations on their website, http://www.amokequipment.com/ , as well as more details, specs, etc.