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 and the top of Sooley's pond to spend a night Hammock Camping.

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50.   I unloaded the truck and spent a few hours picking blueberries as they were just coming ripe, it's great to have some local berries for the freezer.

49.   I began my sleeping quarters setup by first hanging the 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 few feet off the ground for maximum comfort.

47.   Lastly two sticks and paracord were installed to support the fly screen which were tied off to the same pair of 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 all set up I decided to head down the shoreline to do a little trouting passing away an hour or two. The weather was perfect with warm temps, just 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.   This Webber BBQ was 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 used 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 coals burned down I set about  cutting up mushrooms and onions which I will cook on the grill wrapped in tin foil.

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31.   Once ready, I moved the coals mainly to 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 will probably install a temperature gauge in the future to better judge cooking temps inside the grill.

30.   My MSR Superfly gas 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 a beautiful campfire as 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 GoalZero LED 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. It also has a very convenient USB output for charging electronic devices such as phones or Bluetooth speakers.

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20.   After an outstanding night's sleep in my Hammock I fired up the Kelly Kettle early Sunday morning to make a coffee.

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

18.   They are just as easy to use as the picture lets on, they worked extremely well! They are held in the mug with the included stick, add coffee and slow pour over boiling water then toss the fully biodegradable filter.

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

16.   My burgers and coffee were paired with a serving of spicy chicken Mr. Noodle, because why the heck not. Not all backwoods meals need to be fancy! LoL

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11.   I started breaking down camp a little earlier than planned as I totally forgot my medications at home! However I still enjoyed the most important part of this trip, great meals and a great camp-out!

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

9.   My camping set up included a closed cell foam pad for insulation (which can also be substituted for an under quilt - you do need one or the other) and my North Face Aleutian sleeping bag for maximum comfort and warmth.

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6.  Once the fly screen poles and ropes are taken down I slid the pair of Hennessey Snake skin covers all the way down over the hammock. These compact the hammock and keep it clean while dropping it from the trees and later folding it up.

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2.   With everything loaded back aboard the truck I picked another gallon of blueberries then headed back to town for my birthday celebrations with the family.

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

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith