yeaor nay? camping out in a hammock?

[ward4e]

hey,

I've done this a couple of times lounging around after a trek reading & sleeping overnight in a hammock and but its only mentioned in passing in a couple of threads.

so i'm guessing most people don't approve? or is there a scarcity of trees :lol:

anyway has anyone had any success? I'm kind of worried tying up at refugio's trying to explain what I want to do in 3 or so languages along the route..

anyway any advice would be great!

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Ward- I read in another post of yours that you might be going in April. Mostly I think you may well find it too cold and possibly too wet to sleep out in a hammock in April... The Meseta for instance might be hot in summer but it lies at about 800m altitude, and it was mostly quite cold when I walked even in June.
Margaret

 

[Deleted member 3000]

is there a scarcity of trees

The two trees on the meseta are dozens of kilometers apart, so your hammock will need long ropes.

 

[k1ypp]

I didn't bring the hammock on the Camino since there were two of us hiking together, we carried a Hubba-Hubba tent. However, I kept thinking that if I were going solo I would have carried my Hennessy. I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail with it and we became very good friends. I emphasized that in my book about the hike.

At the eastern end of the Camino, we started at Ste. Jean Pied du Port, the terrain is not very level at all and there are plenty of trees, perfect conditions for hammocks. The meseta on the other hand doesn't have much forest, but it did have lots of "islands" of clumps of trees.

The problem we had camping was that there are three choices on the Camino:

o a public campground, which usually cost more than an albergue and were usually far from the Camino.
o Camping at an albergue, some did let us, but that was hit or miss. They would charge the same fee, but it was nice to have the showers, community, etc.
o "Stealth" camping. This is where you go off into the woods and set up for the night. Since one never knows who owns the land, that is always "iffy," but as long as one is environmentally responsible and goes deep enough into the woods, should work.

Would I carry the hammock? Certainly. How often will you use it, I guess that depends on how aggressively you like to camp. One downside: you'll miss the sense of community and gathering of peregrinos every night--unless you're camping at an albergue, and we REALLY got to enjoy being with the others as we formed friendships.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I have a Clark Jungle Hammock and I've seriously considered taking it next Camino.

While the meseta lacks trees, you could stake out the Clark on the ground and use your trekking poles to hold up the sleeping compartment. You'd have the additional advantage of mosquito/fly netting. However, I've weighed the Clark and it's about 4 pounds.. too much weight for some.
A Hennessy would be a problem :::grin:: seeing how you couldn't get out if you were on the dirt.
I got caught in one once, and had to have help getting out. Didn't have enough butt in my britches to kick myself out the bottom :mrgreen:

Depending on the time you'd go, you would need an underquilt, which means more weight.
I guess the answer is it depends on the type of hammock you have.
For the most part, I'd say no... there won't be enough places to hang.
But if you have a Clark.. well... maybe :lol:

I have thought about simply taking my Speers Winter Tarp and nothing else. I took it last Camino and used it only once, but I also had a screen tent. I enjoy sleeping out when possible, under the stars... even in albergue yards. No bedbugs, no perfume, no snoring. Heaven!

 

[Abbeydore]

you might be lucky but in my case; my pacerpoles would be in bits by the morn, a tent yes but not a '4 star accommodated hammock'. They do look so comfy those CJH's,

 

[k1ypp]

Here is a link to a photo of my hammock used in a ground installation with no trees:

Hennessey Hammock on the ground: http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=290492

The meseta was not without trees, they just tended to be in "islands," like an oasis in the middle of a sea of grasses. There were also other objects a hammock could be attached to: poles, fences, rocks, shepards staff, cows, sheep, lazy peregrinos...