Several people have recounted thru-hiking the 2,653-mile Pacific Crest Trail using a hammock as their primary sleeping arrangement. All of the reports we’ve seen describe frequently sleeping on the ground with their hammock in the ~700-mile desert sections from the Mexican border to the southern Sierra Nevada, after which trees become more reliably available. Sleeping on the ground (or even beds) isn’t what we mean when we say hammocking.
What if you could reliably hammock in the total absence of trees, say above treeline in the Sierra, or on brush-covered slopes where no tent can go, or on a sandy plain full of cactus, all within the constraints of lightweight, long-haul backpacking?
I’m Todd, Tensa Outdoor co-owner, now about 150 miles into my northbound PCT thru-hike attempt, using Tensa Trekking Treez and a Warbonnet Blackbird XLC hammock as my only bed. My business partner Cheryl not only engineered this system of trekking poles that converts to a hammock stand, but she’s retired from her medical career allowing me to step away from the business these months to show what it can do. I’m a very lucky man at 56.
So far, I’ve spent not a single night on the ground or even in beds when overnighting in civilization. My goal is to hammock the entire way, as I have every night since 2013 under easier conditions. Indeed, I’m carrying no sleeping pad or similar ground arrangement. I’m pretty sure I’m the most comfortable hiker on trail, and I’m having the time of my life!
I’m also field testing some new and experimental elements of Trekking Treez that will likely soon become standard or optional elements of the system. So far, everything’s performing beautifully in very tough conditions.
Right this moment I’m in my hammock hung from the log joists of a rustic cabin while resupplying in Idyllwild below Mt. San Jacinto, where I learned backpacking as a child in the 1970s. Nostalgia overload! Tomorrow I take on the mountain.
Here’s a gallery of every hang I’ve made so far, all 14 nights. I’m keeping a record for bragging rights to show how Trekking Treez make it possible to tackle trails like this without compromising on the restorative comfort of hammocks, safely and reliably.
Just past Campo
First night, both poles in a gravelly wash. Anchors held. Very cold though. This was a popular tent campsite, party atmosphere, almost a rave within hours of me setting up alone. I soon learned to seek more secluded sites where tents can’t go for my solitude needs.
Hauser Canyon
Trees are convenient.
Boulder Oaks
One gorgeous California Live Oak, one pole, no problems.
Mt. Laguna Lodge
I’m not kidding about not sleeping outside of a hammock. Trekking Treez isn’t designed for indoor use, but I’m resourceful. Anchors are wedged between the queen bed box spring and its permanent base bolted to the floor. Door hinge pin on the head end. No damages, no bedbugs or mites, no backache, no sheets to wash. Inside because heavy electrical storm with hail struck as soon as I arrived up top the snowy summit, and I needed to pick up my underquilt protector the next day at PO for necessary warmth.
Windy
Most challenging hang. Compound slope made hang geometry hard to assess. Pulled up a dead shrub as anchor (should have known better). Needed 2 anchors in the shrub’s crater to hold. Very loose, light, dry leaf litter as main soil component. Very high winds spinnakered me in the hammock to perhaps 20° after I sleeved the tarp whose roar was deafening. But pretty dawn light.
Penney Pines
One Ponderosa, one pole, with tarp. The wind in the pines under bright moonlight was magical.
Before Scissors Crossing
Pretty hang using both poles, 4 anchors, with tarp. Loose gravelly soil required some excavation before one anchor would hold.
Warner Meadows
Wonderful hang from a single mighty oak branch near Warner Meadows. Woke to sounds of turkeys, quail, mourning doves, ravens, scrub jays.
After Scissors Crossing
A pure rock hang above the cactus gardens past Scissors Crossing. Learned that dyna-weave suspension (really, most anything) is easily shredded by sharp granite. Ended up hanging from titanium Boomstake sans boom from a cleft in the rock instead of trying to wrap the rock. Beautiful clear night full of meteors.
Caliente Creek
Beautiful, peaceful, classic tree hang on upper Caliente Creek.
Before Paradise Valley Cafe
Two bushes, two ground anchors. Left off tarp extensions again, a bit over 9 miles shy of Paradise Valley Cafe. I sorely regretted this when a storm I’d not anticipated rolled in around midnight, soaking me and my quilts as I scrambled to pitch tarp by headlamp in high winds, and see all that prickly pear where the tarp stakes want to be? Many barbs embedded in my fingers! Live and learn.
After Mike’s Place
No trees, no problem. Just past Mike’s Place in a little clearing on a slope, my asymmetric anchor placement led me to experiment with the poles out of plane to equalize what would have been asymmetric guyline tension. Left off tarp extensions because forecast called for a clear night.
Idyllwild
In a cabin hanging from the rafters at Idyllwild cleaning up, resupplying. My first full zero-miles day.
Before Barrel Springs
I forgot to photo; this is a still from a video. This hang came together easily using the bases of three chaparrals and one ground anchor, shortly before Barrel Springs. Note rock preventing foot from sinking into soft ground.
Awesome and inspiring stuff, Todd. Thanks for sharing your adventures!