And in the middle of the night……..
moon light (Photo credit: supersum (off))
So one of my fellow 2013 thruhikers Acorn brought up the subject of night hiking on the trail. I hear all my family and friends take a sudden intake of breath! Don’t panic I won’t be doing any lone night hiking I’m not crazy…..well not that crazy yet, give me a few months on trail and it may be a different story.
It is actually a fairly common thing to do while taking on a thru-hike and I hear more and more about it as I delve further into the world of long trail hiking. When I first thought about it I was definitely on the side of ‘No way’ too dangerous and whats the point, you will miss the views and as your hiking you could startle a bear or moose and either be injured or need a change of trousers and I won’t have a change of trousers! There are all so the stories I have heard of people coming across un-savoury characters while night hiking, usually near road crossings. So it isn’t something you should take lightly but if you do it as safely as possible I think it does have its benefits.
If there is a full moon shining bright I can imagine it being pretty spectacular on trail in the right places. On various stumbles home from the local pub I can remember (just about) appreciating the way the moon light hits objects and casts mysterious shadows, on the trail I bet that’s even better if a bit creepy! There is all so the heat element, when it gets too hot during the day for a comfortable hike there is the choice to hike in the evening or very early morning. It is all so a change of scenery and routine, right now pre-hike I can’t imagine ever being bored while hiking the trail. But it is a fact, from the words of several thruhikers in past years, you hike day in day out for up to 6 months, it’s a strong possibility boredom may get you at some point.
Assessing both sides of the argument ‘to night hike or not to night hike?’ it is definitely something I will not rule out completely, after all I want to experience as much as I can whilst on my thru-hike, that’s what it’s all about right? It’s another one to add to the list of things I will decide once I am out there.
Thanks for reading
thruhiker2013
P.S just a quick reminder of my giving page for Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity click here thanks!
It’s something you should do at least once, because it is a pretty unique experience. I did about a dozen night hikes, sometimes because I wanted to try and catch up to folks, and sometimes because it was too brutally hot during the day. Make sure to tell scary stories while you’re doing it as well.
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Pretty sure I will give it a go if fellow hikers are up for it!
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Night hiking can be fun and is certainly worth trying at least once, especially at full moon.
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Guess I will have to give it a shot then! Moon light can be spectacular on the right night.
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Night hiking can be absolutely beautiful. At the end of my thru hike I pulled several very long solo night hikes. Some of the best moments from those last days were stopping in a clearing and gazing upwards at the glorious painting overhead. And the narrow lighted vision of the green tunnel has its own charm as well.
Hiking on a full moon night on Cold Mountain, a bald in Virginia, without a headlamp almost defies description. It was wonderful to see the high waving grasses in the cool moonlight and to glide along in the midst of all that beauty.
Night hiking is only scary if you make it so. I definitely made it so on more than one occasion but there’s really not much to fear. The bear I met was far more afraid of me than I of it. The same is true of the dog, although bringing a dog along will negate almost all fear. She’ll know what’s out there much better than you do! Definitely the biggest danger in night hiking is tripping or losing the trail and not anything else that’s out there. Except for that guy considered armed and dangerous who was wanted in a murder investigation. Okay, so sometimes there are things out there, but rarely.
Sometimes, events pull together to make for a creepy night hike. Can you say: tales of last year’s AT murder, monuments to dead four year-olds, two thunderstorms, and someone writing “MURDER” on shelter signs? And that doesn’t mention the voices of woman and child we heard at 3 AM in the middle of a forest. All in a night and a half too.
It can get to your head after a while.
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Look forward to giving it a go!! Creepy stuff will add to the memory I guess:) Thanks for reading Eric
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