A new hammock convert....welcome to the dark side.

August 14, 2010

Ok, so one of my fellow Traildames, Hemlock, has been really showing some interest in the hammock setups that my friend Sweetpea and I have, so I loaned her some gear and we were off to do a short overnight on the Bartram Trail so she could first hand experience backpacking and camping with a hammock. We met up at Warwoman Dell around noon on Saturday, (we being myself, Hemlock, and my dog Sammy, and yes he is way spoiled!). We hiked in about an hour or so, passing Becky Branch Falls, and found a sweet campsite next to a nice creek with some awesome trees to hang from.

I found a good set of trees, the perfect distance apart and helped/watch her set up. It was kinda like kids on Christmas morning, she was so excited, and I have to admit, she got those lashings done much better that I did on my first hang. We hung out for a little while, and decided to hike a little further up the trail. It was hot, muggy, humid, and after a mile or so, I decided I was tired, and told her to go on, I was heading back to camp. I mean, she is planning on a thru-hike next spring, she is in much better shape than I am in, and honestly, the first week back to school had been just exhausting. So Sammy and I headed back to camp, and I decided to lay in the hammock, cool off and read a book I had brought in. Well.......2 hours later, I woke up and staggered out of the hammock. I have never taken a 2 hour nap on the trail before, but man, it felt so good. We had dinner, she hung the food bags, I built us a little fire, we chitchatted a bit, then called it a night around 9:30 or so.

I didn't sleep too well, I had some sort of issue coming up with my left shoulder, it was very painful, and I didn't have any meds, because I was only going to be out for 1 night. BIG mistake. I will never hike without some type of pain medicine again. I finally drifted off around midnight, woke up multiple times throughout the night, and woke up for good around 6:30. Somewhere around 7:00, Hemlock gets out of the hammock with the biggest grin on her face.....she is hooked. I asked her how she liked it, and when she was ordering her new hammock. I bet she ordered it as soon as she got home. We got packed up and headed back to the car, covering the distance in an hour. She paid me back for the gear loan with some homemade strawberry and rhubarb jam. Man, I think I got the better end of that bargain.

Until next time...

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through- Rosalyn Carter.