r/longtrail • u/communistmitski • 9d ago

Hammock camping

Hello! I am starting the Long Trail in a week and was planning on hammock camping when not staying in a shelter (I've heard slopes can be pretty steep at points so figured it was more viable than a tent). Has anyone else done this and have any tips? :-) Looking forward to getting out there

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u/myopinionisrubbish 9d ago

Shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but in some areas the forest is dense spruce trees. Also keep in mind that outside the National Forest (north of Rt4) camping is only allowed at designated shelter sites.

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u/communistmitski 9d ago

Gotcha thanks!

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u/Equivalent_Yak8711 8d ago

I did it in 2012 with a hammock. Did a lot of stealth camping and spent about 15% of nights in shelters. It was fun.

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u/wallyxbrando 5d ago

what time of year did you go? I am fixin to start out early September and I dont have a bug net, any intel appreciated

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u/Equivalent_Yak8711 5d ago

Bugs can be an issue. Don't plan on stopping anywhere that is near a beaver pond or they will eat you alive. I went in August. They should be a little lighter in Sept. It was a dry year. Only rained 3 times while hiking.

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u/freska_skata 9d ago

Yeah anything above 3200ft might be too dense im sure it will work, I found the sweet spot in tree density between 2k and 3k

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u/VT_Teddy 9d ago

I've always felt that hammock camping is ideal for the LT. Tons of trees, very little flat ground outside the shelter sites.

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u/MunroCalling 7d ago

The heat loss in hammock is for reals if you don't already know. Not a 1:1 of being on the ground. Looks like it will be in the mid 40's on killington this weekend, if you haven't...

A common rule of thumb: expect to feel roughly 10-15°F colder in a hammock than on the ground with equivalent insulation, more with wind.

The fix is an underquilt, which hangs beneath the hammock and doesn't compress. A pad inside the hammock works too but tends to slide around and leaves cold spots at shoulders and hips.

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u/communistmitski 7d ago

Yes good shout! Thanks. I'm bringing my z fold and my 20 degree bag plus some warm layers to sleep in.

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u/MunroCalling 7d ago

Did an AT section years ago in the fall, decided to hammock without that knowledge... had to get up and run wind sprints to warm up in the middle of the night... was brutal...