Hammock Training Pays Off

Hammock selfie...let the testing begin

After months of hammock hanging around the farm, I finally took it with me on a camping trip in the Redwoods. It's first true test, and mine.

Ever since my hammock arrived a few months ago, I've been assaulting every single pair of trees close enough together with the hammock so that I may aggressively enjoy nature. In my hammock at these various locations, I have used my laptop, rested peacefully, enjoyed a quiet escape in nature, tested a multitude of hammock positions and done about everything short of actually sleeping in it.

I assume, correctly, that if one takes a nap gnomes steal your soul. Therefore, I have not fallen asleep in the hammock and have no idea what kind of bed it makes. I would have continued not napping in the hammock, and keeping my soul, but an opportunity came up and I was invited on a short backpacking trip to Big Basin in the Redwoods.

Now, I thought, is the perfect opportunity to test out the ol' sleepin' sling. We drove up Monday night and I hung the hammock at the Jay Camp, or raccoon central, and settled in for a basically restful night's sleep. Although the constant worry that raccoons would steal my stuff and gnomes might steal my soul kept me up a little later than planned.

Sunset Camp : Night 2

I discovered a few things about sleeping in the hammock...the first is that when it is cold, the one part of your body that is the coldest, even in a sleeping bag, is your butt. I suppose this is because that is where all your weight goes when sleeping in a hammock and the closer you are the edge of the hammock the more you feel the elements. The other thing I noticed is that you start off centered, or even with your noggin pretty close to one end of the hammock only to wake with your feet crammed in the other end and your head nearer the bottom much like a lazy bat. Despite waking to frosty cheeks and being somewhat inverted, I was well-rested and still in possession of my soul.

The next day we hiked about five and a half miles to our next campsite and I once more set up the hammock for another night of bliss. As you might imagine, after a few hours of hiking with a pack along what the sign said was a strenuous hike (although it would tell us this at the flattest part of the trail, therefore falsely bolstering my hiking confidence) I was indeed tired enough to really test out the hammock. The second night I selected better trees reached hammock utopia. After a dinner of dried fruit, salami, cheese and vegan Pad Thai (with the exception of the salami and havarti these other items are only edible in the backcountry and should not be consumed when you have literally anything else to eat) and a mug of hot chocolate I resumed my hammock-testing.

All set up

The second night was much more pleasant than the first. The hammock geometry was much more conducive to normal sleep (ie, less bat-like) and by using the rainfly I kept the whole setup warmer and therefore woke with relatively toasty buns. All-in-all, I have to say that my hammocking experience in the Redwoods was a huge success and one that I will have to try again!

Author's note: It turns out that gnomes do not steal your soul whilst you sleep...or at least that's what they want you to think!