Hello fellow hangers,
As the name suggests, I'll be thru-hiking SOBO next year starting in June.
From what I can gather from trail journals and blog entries, it seems like most thru-hikers with hammocks go to ground (or shelters) from time to time. They don't feel like setting up camp in the middle of a fierce thunderstorm, or they are given a kitchen table to sleep on after work-for-stay, or they're trying to follow park regulations in the GSMNP. Even worse, they might lose a tree strap or have a catastrophic tear in the hammock.
Thru-hikers who have done this, how did you sleep on the ground? I have a hammock with a full-length underquilt. Should I consider taking a small sleeping pad on top of my hammock setup? It seems like kind of a drag carrying a sleeping pad that I wont' be using often. Then again, the prospect of sleeping on a nasty cold hard floor also sounds pretty miserable too.