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  1. #1
    Musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night. Heater's Avatar
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    Default Has anyome hiked the ENTIRE with only a hammock system?

    Has anyone hiked the *ENTIRE AT trail with only a hammock system? Start to finish? Only a hammock. No tent or tarp.

    I have seen this question posted before but nobody answered So, has anyone hiked the whole trail using a hammock? Lets hear from ya!







    *(ENTIRE AT) - Copyright - W. Doyle - 2005

  2. #2
    Registered User neo's Avatar
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    no but i wish i had neo

  3. #3
    Registered User Rifleman's Avatar
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    Default Entire AT with only a hammock system (H&H)

    I believe this gentleman did it in 2003.
    http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=1323
    He did it SOBO.
    R.
    First things first!

    One-time Rights, hard copy and Internet. All Rights revert to author.

  4. #4
    Musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night. Heater's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rifleman
    I believe this gentleman did it in 2003.
    http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=1323
    He did it SOBO.
    R.
    Thanks Rifleman. That was an interesting journal. I just wish he would have been a litttle more descriptive more about his hammock camping. He hammocked in shelters and was using a poncho over it instead of a tarp was all he said.

    But it was a good short read. I especially liked one one the last entries.

    "The last 2.5 miles to Springer Mountain were different from every other mile I’ve done on the trail. I started to recollect all the memories I have from the 291 days since I started hiking the Appalachian Trail.
    You know how it is when you try to remember a great vacation you had in your past? What you usually recall is a couple of visual images of the high points of your trip. Images you know will be embedded in your memory forever? Well, I have hundreds of these mental pictures, gathered during my nine and a half months of hiking, and when I was climbing those final miles I recalled them in a series of continuous flashbacks.


    I saw myself opening a can of soda and drinking it after running out of water and dehydrating in New York on my second day of hiking. I saw myself nighthiking up the fog-covered Lincoln Mountain in the White Mountains, under the full moonlight. I saw myself watching the sunrise on top of Mt Katahadin. I saw myself huffing and puffing on the "roller coaster" while that terrible early December snowstorm was dropping inches and inches of snow on the trail. I saw the ice-covered trees glittering in the sun in the Shenadoas.

    I saw myself carrying a wounded hawk on my mattress to the road. I saw myself hiking in knee deep snow, trying to cross ice-covered streams, bushwhacking down deer tracks in the snow trying to reach civilization. I saw these and a hundred more images that no words can describe. I re-smelled the aromas of spring, re-heard the voices of nature, re-felt the scorching heat of summer and the freezing cold of winter. I re-felt those endless pains, the periods of loneliness and depression. I rejoiced again at the magical perfect moments I’d experienced. I re-saw, re-heard, re-smelled, re-felt and re-tasted all these experiences. And most of all, I recalled all those wonderful people that helped me so much on my way here.
    And then… I reached that bronze plaque at the summit and there were no more white blazes to follow. I had reached the end of the Appalachian Trail... "

    I guess that's what it's all about, huh?

  5. #5
    Section Hiker, 1,040 + miles, donating member peter_pan's Avatar
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    Believe "Reality Check" did a thru by hammock in 2005...

    Pan
    ounces to grams
    WWW.JACKSRBETTER.COM home of the Nest and No Sniveler underquilts and Bear Mtn Bridge Hammock

  6. #6
    Registered User hammock engineer's Avatar
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    Default

    I talked to a couple people last night that said they did, can't remember their name off hand. Redneck could help with that.

    My plan is to use my HH this year.

  7. #7
    Registered User DLANOIE's Avatar
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    Default Re: entire thru hike with hammock

    well i hope it can be done because thats my plan for my thru hike SOBO this June!
    Sleeping on the gound is an absolute last resort option for me. but if i have to the hammock can be setup along with my poles as a tent.
    skinny d

  8. #8
    Thru Hiker Wannabe timhines's Avatar
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    i don't know how people feel about this....but from most of the pictures of shelters I have seen it looks like you could hang your hammock in most of them giving room for more people to fit in a shelter if weather forced them to do so.

  9. #9
    Section Hiker, 1,040 + miles, donating member peter_pan's Avatar
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    Default Whoa !!!

    Quote Originally Posted by timhines
    i don't know how people feel about this....but from most of the pictures of shelters I have seen it looks like you could hang your hammock in most of them giving room for more people to fit in a shelter if weather forced them to do so.

    Please check the hammock archives...this is an unwise idea as it causes discourtesy issues and may be structurally destructive in many shelters.... Be a true hammock hanger and hang in the trees.... more comfortable and way less issues.

    Pan
    ounces to grams
    WWW.JACKSRBETTER.COM home of the Nest and No Sniveler underquilts and Bear Mtn Bridge Hammock

  10. #10
    Registered User Smee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Austexs
    Has anyone hiked the *ENTIRE AT trail with only a hammock system? Start to finish? Only a hammock. No tent or tarp.

    I have seen this question posted before but nobody answered So, has anyone hiked the whole trail using a hammock? Lets hear from ya!


    *(ENTIRE AT) - Copyright - W. Doyle - 2005
    Take a look at the link below:

    http://www.jacksrbetter.com/JRBs%20got%20GAME.htm
    Regards,
    Smee
    www.jacksrbetter.com

  11. #11
    Springer-->Stony Brook Road VT MedicineMan's Avatar
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    Default Rifleman,

    I emailed Roni about using his hammock on his thru---he never answered.
    Start out slow, then slow down.

  12. #12
    Hug a Trail volunteer StarLyte's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MedicineMan
    I emailed Roni about using his hammock on his thru---he never answered.
    Last I read he was hiking the FT.

  13. #13
    Registered User Cheesewhiz's Avatar
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    yeah give 'em time I think he's out on the Flordia trail now
    :datz May the four winds blow me safely to Maine.

    www.trailjournals.com/cheesewhiz

  14. #14

    Default i did my thru-hike in a hammock

    hey guy's i was just searching around and came across this post. I thru-hiked the AT in 05 using just the hammock. If memory serves I only slept in the shelters like 8 times and most of that was in the dam state parks. there was also a few others along the way that switched over and never went back. Strider did more then 1/2 the trail out in his hammock that year also. so it can be done. and is so much better then using a tent. I saw very few tenter's or tarpers out there that didn't sleep in the shelters most of the time. if your going to sleep on the ground its allot easer to just sleep in the shelter most nights and not set up a camp. I personally don't like sleeping next to smelly people that snore and wake me up. i also never had a problem finding trees to hang at along the trail. I Usually set up around the shelters for the company and water but always slept far enough away not to be bothered by anyone.

    now my advice for anyone that wants to do this is:

    #1 YOU NEED AN UNDER QUILT !!!! You can survive just fine every night by sleeping on your pad tossing, adjusting, sticking!! . But trust me on this ... Spend the money and upgrade to an Under quilt. I am not up to date on who is making under quilt options these days, but i used a jacks R better set and it worked awesome. I never had a cold or uncomfortable night on the trail .. in the beginning and starting at the Whites up i carried a set of fleece pants, top, socks , and hat that i would wear on really cold nights.

    #2 BIGGER TARP !!!!! Again you will survive every night just fine with a tiny little tarp. But because of the fact that you can't do anything besides lay down in your hammock you are going to need some room for the "other things" when the weather is nasty. i use a MacCat deluxe tarp that was worth every gram. I only wished it was a little bigger! I slept out during all hurricanes and rain storms that year and never had a problem keeping dry. Because your off the ground only your tarp gets wet and that is easy to dry out.You will also notice that all the tenter's like to hang out under your nice tarp when the weather is bad. sometimes that was a bad thing now that i think back on it , lol ...

    The rest is up to you .. i like the HH hammock's but the other ones out there will do just fine as well. Although i highly recommend full bug net. Nothing is worse then swatting horse fly's off your face all night. I also used the snake skin things and loved them .. umm what else .. ohh use a carabiner (the real climbing ones !!!) between the tree huggers and the main hammock lines .. saves allot of friction wear on the ropes when your trying to get it set up tight. i never untied the head end off the carabiner. just clipped it to a tree and adjust the foot end to get everything right. I think all my sleeping/shelter gear together runs about 6 lbs summer 10ish for fall, but i could be wrong.. the sleep i got in the hammock was worth everything on the trail. More people need to get off the ground and into the trees.

    Reality Check GAME 05

  15. #15
    Donating Member Cuffs's Avatar
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    If Im not mistaken.... Hammock Hanger did her thru only with a hammock...
    ~If you cant do it with one bullet, dont do it at all.
    ~Well behaved women rarely make history.

  16. #16
    Registered User Frolicking Dinosaurs's Avatar
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    I can't see that using only a hammock set-up would be a problem as long as you used a CCF pad as part of the under-insulation -- that way you could use the set-up bivy style in shelters (bug & mice free!) or bivy + tarp style in places where suitable trees were unavailable.

  17. #17

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    i carried along a z-rest pad for about a month. I never used it in the hammock but enjoyed sitting around camp on it. I ended up switching that out with a thermarest Butt pad thing that i still use. small and light but still nice to sit around on.

    i never used the hammock as a bivy or set it up in shelters. the few nights i did stay in the shelters i just threw anything soft i could get my hands on under me and ruffed it out. If you have a problem finding a place to hang your hammock anywhere along the AT your lost. Please go back into the woods and follow the white blazes. IF there is one thing the trail does have, It's TREES !!!! even in the whites your never more then a 30 min walk down to the trees, set it up anywhere, just keep it off the trail and out of the shelters.!!!!

  18. #18
    Registered User Phreak's Avatar
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    I start my AT SOBO next Monday and I'm taking a hammock.

  19. #19
    Section Hiker, 1,040 + miles, donating member peter_pan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cheesewhiz View Post
    yeah give 'em time I think he's out on the Flordia trail now
    Cheezewiz,

    Your being too modest.... You also thrued with a hammock, in 2006.... Well done.

    Pan
    ounces to grams
    WWW.JACKSRBETTER.COM home of the Nest and No Sniveler underquilts and Bear Mtn Bridge Hammock

  20. #20
    Registered User michael rowlands's Avatar
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    I carried a hammock in 2006 on the A.T from Maine to Mass. This would be the completion for me of the trail in both directions 25 years after my first thru hike in 1981. I used my same old Kelty pack on both trips. I sure wish I had carried a hammock on both complete trips They are unbeatable. I giggle like a school girl everytime I lean back in mine. Rowmin' Goat

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