Hi everyone! I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be thru-hiking the PCT this year. I hiked the AT in 07 & I hope to be using mostly the same gear. I used a Hennessy Hammock on the AT in 07. Will my Hammock be OK on the PCT? I understand a hammock wouldn’t be useful in the desert sections (unless I find a couple of Saguaro’s close together & am VERY careful 
- but, would it be OK in the other sections? I can’t imaging wrapping my straps around a couple of Sequoias’. Thanks for any advice.
Scott
Scott, if you find any saguaros out there, send them back to Arizona, would you? They’re clearly lost.
Also, about those Sequoias. Wouldn’t you know it, General Sherman and his troop are sadly unaccounted for along the crest-seeking PCT, even in his namesake National Park.
I think you’ll find that very few PCT thru-hikers are carrying hammocks. Where the climate is conducive to their use (the warm deserts), you’re without trees for anchoring. Where trees are plentiful, the nights can get quite cool for hammocking, or buggy, as in Oregon. Further, with its more open terrain and forest understory, the ground along the PCT is much more conducive to stealth camping than on the AT, so you eliminate some of the justification for using a hammock out West.
Of course you could selectively carry a hammock for just those sections where it might be liable to work, but this would suggest the need for you to research the nature of the trail a bit more thoroughly, something that will pay dividends during your hike, regardless of your camping style.
blisterfree
It’s not that kind of desert. And there is not that much of it. But for the first 700 miles or so, you’ll find it hard to hang a hammock.
The chaparral is too dense and short for that sort of thing. You could probably find places to hang your hammock in the forests of the San Gabriels and San Bernardinos. But you’d be among trees like that infrequently for the first 700 miles.
That is my uneducated, non-hammock opinion. Maybe you can hang a hammock from a bush? What do I know?
I saw one guy in hammock in the Sierra. I had never seen one before. He looked like a burrito hanging in a tree.
Piper
Sure it is possible. Just not always convenient. I carried a hammock on my thru in 07 but I also had a regular s. pad. I love hammocks so I would take one anyway. Good luck and see you on the trail!
manynames tom(hiking pole)
Yes, well, not always convenient, as in not always possible. But you probably get the idea by now.
blisterfree
Thanks for the advice! I’m thinking about using a bounce box during my hike; So, I’ll likely just keep my hammock in the box for the sections I can use it and get a good tarp for the rest of the trail. I’ll miss my hammock though (I love mine too Manynames Tom). I’ve hung my hammock on the sides of mountains, over rocks, & even over a small stream once on the AT (slept like a baby with the sound, just had to be careful gettin in & out ). Also, my dark green hammock made stealth camping easy (never was found).
Hey Piper - I hope the bears don’t think the same as you. A nice meat burrito hanging about mouth high 
It’s too bad about the Sequoia’s. I’ve been to King’s Canyon & Sequoia NP and seeing the HUGE trees was amazing. Pictures of those trees don’t do them justice.
The only desert hiking I’ve done is a couple day hikes in Arizona. Guess I thought Saguaros were all over the Southwestern desert. I didn’t know they were only in Arizona. Too bad. I won’t miss them as much as the Sequoia’s tho!
Scott
My wife and I are thru-hiking in '09. Permits are this week’s task. They need to know if we plan to summit Whitney or not. Who knows the off-PCT mileage to the peak?
Sundog
It’s like 9 miles one way I think. Also there are no permits requiered for a Whitney ascent from the PCT/ west side of Whitney, that’s just a hustle for a donation. Seriously. NO PERMIT NEEDED. Never get one it is not nescesary. You only need a permit if you intend to go down and exit the East side for a Lone Pine resupply. I highly don’t reccomend this. I’m 31 and in decent shape, and would never want to do the ascent of Whitney from the East Side. I crossed it last year on the JMT, and it was a heck of a lot of vertical and switchbacks.
If you camp past the Crabtree Ranger station you need to poop in a wag bag and carry it out. That means all the way to Reds Meadow or VVR, wherever you plan on supplying. You can’t leave it back at the ranger station. There are good spots to camp at crabtree meadows, bear box is here too. Also a big can of the wag bags. Don’t worry about the climb. If you walk all the way from Mexico you’ll fly up the thing. You can camp closer to Whitney, just the wag-bag issue sucks.
Guino
Heh, don’t expect blazes anywhere of any color! A western forest blaze is a lower case “i” cut through the bark of a tree.
…GottaWalk
Marcia
Those “i” blazes are very destructive and are recognized by the Park and Forest service as so and are illegal to cut into trees just so your aware Marcia. Also trail is super easy to follow, impossible to get lost. Have fun Sundog. Hey are you the same Sundog that hiked with Tess on PCT '07 from the Tahoe area?:pimp
Guino
Hey Guino, thanks. Er, no that’s not me. I am the Sundog who hiked the AT in '03. This will be my first time ever on the PCT.
Sundog
Scott,
The deserts and semi-deserts of Southern CA are quite different from those in AZ. And the forests of the Sierra Crest are different from those on the west side of Sequoia where the big trees are.
There is quite a bit of info available regarding the plants, wildlife and weather likely to be encountered along the Southern PCT.
Booger
Those i blazes are so old that they were there before there were parks and national forests. Ken told me that I should also have added for hikers not to follow them because they may be from old trails and trails other than the PCT or Whitney. I don’t think anyone has cut them for many years but they are visible for a very long time.
Marcia