August 31-Sept 1, 2019 Labor Day Hammock Camping (52 Photos)

 

52.   With heavy rain cancelling the Friday night portion of my planned two night solo camping adventure, I packed up the truck Saturday morning and headed west towards Whitbourne to the top of Sooley's pond to spend the night Hammock Camping.

 

 

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50.   After unloading the truck I spent a few hours picking blueberries as they were just coming ripe and it's great to have some local produce in the freezer.

 

 

49.   I began setting up my sleeping quarters by hanging my Hennessey Hex Fly which will help keep rain, dew and tree needles off my hammock.

 

 

48.   Next my Free Soldier hammock was strung between the same two trees a couple feet off the ground for maximum comfort.

 

 

47.   Lastly two sticks were installed to support the fly screen and tied off to the same two trees.

 

 

46.  I'm definitely more of a comfort camper than a lightweight camper, but it's a lot of fun and makes the trip all that more enjoyable.

 

 

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40.   I was really looking forward to breaking in my new Webber Smokin' Joe Charcoal BBQ with this evenings steak dinner.

 

 

39.   With camp set up I decided to head down the pond a do a little trouting and pass away an hour. The weather was perfect with warm temps, a little wind and sunny skies.

 

 

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36.   Thanks to the fine folks at Foodland in Torbay for not only having prime rib steak on sale a couple weeks ago but also offering them cut nice and thick!

 

 

35.   The Webber BBQ is easy to use, I don't yet have a starter chimney so I put paper below the bottom rack and stacked real hardwood charcoal on top. I did use a little lighter fluid to get things going but that was long burnt off before cooking began. The paper was easily lit through the bottom vent holes.

 

 

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33.   While the BBQ burned down I set about  cutting up mushrooms and onions which I will cook in tin foil and reserve my single burner stove to cook rice.

 

 

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31.   Once hot, I spread the charcoal mainly around the left side so I would have the option of direct and indirect heat. I cooked mainly with the cover on to preserve the smoky flavour. You can moderate temperature by open/closing the vents, I may install a temperature gauge in the future to better judge cooking temps inside the grill.

 

 

30.   My MSR Superfly stove continues to work great and I really like its compactness.

 

 

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28.   An absolutely spectacular backwoods meal fit for a king if a king happened to drop by.

 

 

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26.   My evening was spent by the campfire while two beavers were playing (or something) out in the pond making quite a racket, seemingly to not know nor care that I was nearby.

 

 

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24.   I picked up this new LED hanging collapsible lantern at Bass Pro earlier this year. I'm really happy with its light output and the fact that it's both USB and Solar rechargeable which is really convenient on multi night trips.

 

 

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22.   My recently purchased Milwaukee M18 LED lantern was also very handy putting out lots of scene lighting and having a convenient USB output for charging electronic devices such as phones or Bluetooth speakers.

 

 

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20.   After an outstanding nights sleep in my Hammock I fired up my Kelly Kettle Sunday morning to make coffee.

 

 

19.   Instead of my usual backwoods instant coffee I decided to try out these new (to me) single serve coffee filters.

 

 

18.   They are as easy to use as the picture lets on and worked extremely well!

 

 

17.   For breakfast I decided to cook up a few hamburgers as they were already mostly thawed out.

 

 

16.   My burgers and coffee were paired with a serving of spicy chicken Mr. Noodle. Not all backwoods meals need to be fancy!

 

 

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11.   With my trip coming to an end I started taking down camp a little early as I totally forgot my medications at home!

 

 

10.   The Hennessey Hex fly has a great feature in that the tie down ropes stay attached to the fly and are stored inside sewn in pockets on each corner.

 

 

9.   My camping set up includes a closed cell foam pad for insulation (which can also be substituted for an under quilt - you do need something though) and my North Woods Aleutian sleeping bag for maximum comfort and warmth.

 

 

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5.   Once the fly screen poles and ropes are taken down I slide the two Hennessey Snake skin covers all the way down over the hammock to keep it clean while untying it from the trees.

 

 

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2.   With the truck reloaded I picked another gallon of blueberries and headed back to town for my birthday celebrations with family.

 

 

1.   It was another excellent adventure, hopefully Maffer and Sooley who also have the same hammock can get free for a weekend camping in the near future!

 

Cheers, MIKE

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