First of all let me start out by stating that I am not an expert, and these stories are meant to bring a lighter and a funnier side to backpacking.  I am not in a race, I am doing this because I truly enjoy it, I want everyone else to enjoy it like I do, but that would mean we would all be the same, and the woods would be crowded.  So to share stories with friends and families is what these stories are intended to be, nothing more, nothing less.

The time I fell upside down, on the ground inside a bug net – Some nights are better than others.

So to start off, I absolutely love hanging in a hammock.  There is nothing like it, whether you are in the woods, or at a beach (if you can find trees around).  I LOVE sleeping in a hammock.  So the fact that I was on the ground was not intended, but let me back up and start from the beginning.

My husband had ordered a new hyper light setup from Hummingbird Hammocks, and had been bragging on how well it was working for him.  I originally told him I would not be giving up my ENO hammock with integrated bug net any time soon; no matter if it would save pounds (yes literally pounds).  So at first he talked me into trading in my super duper easy to hang hammock straps for a set of whoopee slings, yes I said whoopee slings.  If you have no idea what that is you can Google it.  But that immediately saved pounds in my pack.  That might not seem like much to you, but if you have ever carried that much extra weight on you back for 10+ miles it means a great deal.  But I was still reluctant to give up my super easy to setup hammock with the attached, idiot proof bug screen.  But during another rather funny adventure, where I was using a hammock stand and it broke (no I don’t weigh that much, it was already rusting away) my husband urged me to tryout his new super lightweight hammock setup while he slept in the car.  I know, he’s so chivalrous.  But I think he also wanted me to try out the setup so he would finally get me to ditch the heavier hammock for the lightweight setup.  And you know what, it worked.  It was as comfortable as my other hammock setup, and the weight savings in my pack would definitely be a plus.  So I ordered the hammock and the bug net.  This brings me to the story I was telling you on how I became upside down on the ground tangled in a bug net.  So the first night the bug net, its maiden hang, one of the tabs that hold it up on the guy wire tore.  Really bummed about this, but knowing it would be a simple fix, the next night I decided to hang my hammock a little looser, because I had it too tight the night before and it didn’t sleep well.  Those who sleep in hammocks will know what I am talking about.  So I spent the extra time to get the hammock perfect.  Then the bug net, well, this time it was the zipper.  It would not zip up from the bottom to meet the top zipper in the middle for easy access.  I worked on this for about an hour, but couldn’t get it working.  So I decided that I would zip the hammock from the top down, and just remember that it was at the bottom if I had to get up in the night.  And yes, you guessed it; I had to get up that night to go pee.  So in the middle of the night I am hanging over the side of the hammock trying to locate the zipper tab that was working on the ground.  Our dog Charley was lying underneath me and it just so happened she was lying on the zipper.  So I had to nudge her and pull the zipper out from underneath her.  Finally I was able to get out of the bug net and onto the ground to do my business.  Since the bug net was hanging low, I decided to readjust the guy wire to bring it up a little higher so this would not happen again.  Finally after all this is completed, I am ready to climb back into my hammock and back to blissful sleep.  I reach in the dark and grab the side of the hammock (or so I thought) squat down to put myself in the hammock, and totally miss the hammock.  At this point I am inside the bug screen on the other side of the hammock than where I was attempting to get in with my head pointing downhill and my legs in the air.  So I did what any independent backpacking girl would do in this situation.  I hollered for my husband.  But he was dead asleep.  So I pondered how comfy I would be if I just laid there until morning, but I had no idea what time it was other than dark.  So I wormed my way onto my belly then onto my knees, then managed again to find the zipper opening of the bug net and get out of the bug net again.  Of course this pulled down the guy wire to the bug net, so I had to re-hang it and by that time I noticed the mountains around us started showing the promise of light soon.  So I fixed the bug net, climbed back in the hammock – a lot more carefully this time and proceeded to get comfortable.  Found my phone and turned it on to look at the time and it was only about an hour until daylight.  So I lay there and watched the stars fade and the blue sky get brighter and brighter while I contemplated life and what I would fix for breakfast when it got light enough.  I dare not walk around where we were before daylight, because we were on a 500 foot cliff overlook a waterfall.  It scenery like that is one of the things I love so much about backpacking.

When I returned home I contacted Hummingbird Hammocks about the bug net to see if they would replace the bug net.  My husband hasn’t had a bit of problems with his after 6 months of use and my first trip out with mine it has seemed to fall apart.  Hopefully they will replace it in time for my next adventure.  Otherwise I may be back in my ENO hammock for a little while.