Hammock S24O

I've been eager to try hammock camping. I have a cheap leisure hammock, but it doesn't have any bug protection. Nice camping hammocks quickly add up to $300+, but I'm just dipping my toe in the water with the Wal Mart cheapie, $40. Possibly this is as bad as trying mountain biking with a $100 Wal Mart bike, but if I do like hammock camping, I really don't want to fork out for multiple $300 setups for the kids as well. 

Last Friday, I quickly threw together a quick S24O. Henry and Kate were on board, but oddly Sam decided to stay home and watch a movie with Jodi.

We had to stop for dessert on the way to camp:

We set up in our usual spot. Henry and I both had our hammocks, while Kate had our backup tent all to herself:

Here's my fancy new hammock. The straps it comes with are ridiculously short, and I could only attach one side of the bug net to the tree--that's why the right side higher than the left.

For this ride, I was riding my new Marin Nicasio. I was ready to sell this bike, but after this trip, Henry claimed it. It's funny, he can now ride an XL sized frame (with the seat slammed).

Henry was using my Bike Friday for this trip. He does have his own bike (actually, two of them), but I think he prefers to take one of mine.

And Kate was on her Trek:

Kate had the four man tent all to herself. She did not complain.

While Henry had my old two man hammock:

It wasn't a great night of sleep. This spot is pretty near a busy road, and there was live music from a party up the street until 11:30 or so. I had forgotten ear plugs, so the noise kept us up for quite a while.

Henry wasn't comfortable in his hammock, and gave up around midnight and headed for the tent. I stuck it out all night in my hammock. I was using a Ridgerest pad under me for insulation. It was so hot when we went to bed that I just laid on top of my sleeping bag. When I got cold later in the night, I couldn't figure out how to wiggle into the sleeping bag. I mostly got it on top of me as a blanket instead. I also didn't have a pillow, thinking the hammock would support my head well enough, but I had trouble getting comfortable without one. In the end, I tossed and turned all night, which is pretty comparable to how I usually sleep when I'm tent camping. But I think there's potential to improve the hammock setup.

I also need to figure out a tarp setup for the hammock. Right now, I'm only a fair weather hammock camper.

Needless to say, we were all up early. Henry found another bike to ride to breakfast:

That didn't get him very far, so he was back on the BF for our ride to Tim Horton's and then home.