Evolution Valley or Mineral King for Hammocking

[nstd]

which trail is better for hammocking?

also overall opinion on both trails would be helpful. Thank you!

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[Harlen]

Hey nstd,

I am in ignorance- what exactly is "hammocking?" Is it literally the sleeping in a hammock as you go.... as between 2 coconut palms on a beach in the Yucatan? Or is it a metaphoric term akin to a "lollipop trip?" Might "Hammocking" mean a trip that starts high and ends high?

As for your two trails, both can be called crowded areas- especially Evo. Valley, however both can also lead you into some of the most primo remote areas of all! For example, to the south of EV is the remote Ionian Basin, and the even wilder canyons farther south from there- e.g., Disappearing Creek's "Enchanted Gorge," and Goddard Creek. Similarly, M.King can lead you into wild, off-trail parts of the gigantic Kern Basin. Best of luck.

[nstd]

Thanks Harlen! Hammocking is type of camping where you hang on a hammock between two trees.

Does both trail provide trees to do that?

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[limpingcrab]

Can you be more specific? Do you men just going to one of those spots and setting up a base camp or hiking through those areas on a longer trip?

Evolution Valley: yes, plenty of trees.

MK: Depends, not many trees by the lakes on the east side, but the lakes on the west side have plenty.

Your starting location and whether or not you're going over passes might change things

[balzaccom]

There are at least five trails out of Mineral King, so it would help to know which direction you are thinking of going....

[Tom_H]

He wants to know which trails have forested sections with big enough trees to support a hammock. When I was in my teens, my local Army-Navy store had a hybrid hammock with mosquito netting and a rainfly attached above, but it was a bit heavy. I wrote to LL Bean and suggested they make something similar but lighter for backpacking. Low and behold, they put such an item in their catalog about 9 months later. (It must not have sold well, however, because they never offered it again.) I used it mainly canoe camping on southern coastal plains rivers with swampy flood plains. When the ground was level and dry enough, I could pitch it on a ground cloth like a minimalistic tent. If the ground was muddy (as it often was) or not level, I could pitch it between cypress trees. As I got older, my back hurt too much from sleeping all night in a curved position, so I didn't use it any more beyond my early twenties.

So the point of this is that the Sierra's most beautiful parts are above the treeline. If you could find something similar to the hybrid I used to have, you could suspend it when you are in the trees, but pitch it like a tent when you aren't.

[longri]

I've only seen people with modern backpacking hammocks in the Sierra a few times. I've wondered why. Obviously it won't work above treeline but there are plenty of forested areas in the Sierra. Maybe I just haven't spent enough time in those parts.

If you could find something similar to the hybrid I used to have, you could suspend it when you are in the trees, but pitch it like a tent when you aren't.

Check out this guy's kit:

[Harlen]

I've got you now nstd- your looking for "hammockable " camping sites. I reckon you'll do just fine anywhere, as long as you take along a few meters of either lightweight webbing, or strong parachute cord. You can use these to rope suitable boulder tops. Note- I am not "hammocking" you- Wandering Daisy will tell you that climbers on big wall climbs often string hammocks where no trees exist. If the dimensions are not right for attaching a loop around the rock "horns" of 2 boulders, you can cleverly create knots of any size in the webbing, and wedge the knot into cracks in the rock; or you can slip the thin webbing into a the crack and leave the anchoring knot on the far side. [Such webbing knots are a standard form of climbing protection in parts of Europe.] By adjusting the lengths of the cord, you should be able to level the hammock.

And Tom_H had a hammock too short and narrow to sleep flat. [Beware another tangent.... I'll try to be brief.]
The times I used lightweight hammocks in trees, I was mostly worried about rolling over deadly vipers. I slept as poorly as Tom in small hammocks, but when I finally bought a "matrimonial size" Yucatan hammock, made of heavy woven cotton, I was in heaven. By turning your body at an angle in the giant hammock, you can sleep flat, and so can 2 of you if you're married. My big mistake was to carry it with me on a climb up 13,045 foot Acatenango in Guatemala, and it turned solid in the freezing sleety downpour that occurred during the climb. I had stupidly left the hammock strung up in the pines. It must've weighed 40 pounds! End of tangent.

Have you found a hammock that works for you nstd? Good luck.

**WD, we assume you've climbed among those classic walls at the head of the Cirque of the Towers in the Winds, among other cliffs.

[Wandering Daisy]

I have never used a hammock on a climb, just slept in a bivy sack on ledges part way up a climb. Spent a few unplanned nights on small ledge, feet dangling off, tied in, no bivy gear at all! I have backpacked in a group before where one member used a hammock and he never seemed to have any trouble finding trees. As for hanging a hammock on rocks or between rocks, a few smaller cams actually work better than knots.

Almost There, a member of our forum, does a lot of hammock camping. Maybe she will chime in.

Frozen hammock, and cotton too, LOL, I have only experienced a frozen tent (like some scene out of Dr. Zhivago).

[kpeter]

Last summer out of Mineral King I met a group of 6 guys who each had their own hammock. They camped at Forester and moved to Little Claire, and found plenty of places to "hang out" at each lake.

I would say there were also good hammock sites at Big 5. There are trees at the Little 5 closest to Black Rock Pass--I'm trying to remember how sturdy and large they are--probably enough to support a hammock. Lake Hamilton and Lower Franklin will have some sites especially on their more forested ends below their outlets. Obviously the lakes at or above tree line will be a problem. Precipice Lake is not a good hammock destination. On the other hand, you may have a much easier time finding unconventional sites along the High Sierra Trail since you could camp anywhere there were good trees and a water source even without a flat spot.

As far as Evolution Valley is concerned--many suitable trees. I specifically remember some timbered areas exactly at the 10k elevation on the trail leading up out of Evolution Valley. That is a popular camping destination. The JMT downhill from the Valley also would be good in the camps along the San Joaquin. Going uphill you run out of trees by the time you get to Sapphire and maybe even the inlet end of Evolution Lake, and then don't pick them up again until you get below Helen Lake on the other side of Muir Pass.