Hammocks

 

With the recent craze about ultra-light backpacking, the question has become more common, “Can we use our hammocks at Philmont?” The short answer is a polite no. There are many reasons for this.

Reason #1: Philmont is the only place in the world where there are 28,000 people hiking through such a small area in 3 months. You will see scaring on trees around bear cables where crew after crew has scared the bark of a tree. If everyone going to Philmont used a hammock, there would hardly be any bark left on the trees to let you enjoy the beauty. Lack of bark on trees will also open the tree up to infection and bugs that can kill it. This would cause hazards in our campsites.

Reason #2: When camping at Philmont, we want everyone to tent together. Bears will see hammocks and could confuse them with low hanging bear bags.

Reason #3: Bears are clever, but not smart. They come up with resourceful ways to try to get your bear bags out of the trees, but when they see a tent and hear it making noise they spook and think it’s a  creature larger than them. Black bears are not confrontational, so they will run. You will be sleeping in a tent for safety reasons. If you do not have a tent, Philmont tent rentals are included in your fees.