Night/Early Morning Hike

[wcummings]

Did my first Night/Early Morning Hike last night/into this morning on Mt. Washington. It's awesome getting out on the trail while it's still dark, a little eery, but peaceful. What's really cool is the way the sky just slowly changes from black to blue as the sun comes up. The only thing I didn't like was that fact that my digital camera spazzed out. I guess that means I'll just have to do it again soon.

[KD Talbot]

As anyone who has seen sunrise or sunset from a mountaintop can tell you, there are few better ways to enjoy them. Glad you got out and did this. There are so many in the world who wouldn't bother. If we could all do it together the world would be a lot calmer place.

KDT

[Steve M]

As anyone who has seen sunrise or sunset from a mountaintop can tell you, there are few better ways to enjoy them. Glad you got out and did this. There are so many in the world who wouldn't bother. If we could all do it together the world would be a lot calmer place.

KDT

I agree but the mountain tops would be very crowded!

[TrishandAlex]

Congrats on your trip! Sounds blissful.

I would love to do this. I have to get over my fear of being in the woods after dark. Silly fear, but there it is.

Maybe there's an AMC trip or some group hike one could take, a "hiking at night 101" course somewhere? If I find one, I'll sign up.

[Brad]

Trish,

You might think about staying a night in one of the AMC huts. Then you might get a good sunset and sunrise. Plus, the chance to roam a bit away from the hut.

[TrishandAlex]

Thanks, Brad. Alex and I are thinking of doing just that. Our main reason was to break up a long (for us) 4K hike into two shorter day hikes, but catching that sunrise/sunset is just as strong an impetus.

It may be too late to book for this year, but we'll check it out.

In any event, I do need to learn how to hike at night. At some point I'll take a class or be part of a group excursion. Everytime I find myself in the woods after dark, I feel like I'm Pee Wee Herman in the nighttime forest scene of his Big Adventure.

Adventures such as described by wcummings seem too beautiful to be missed. Just need to get over my fear of every scary aggressive rabid animal coming after me as soon as the lights go out.

[mtruman]

Trish,

You might think about staying a night in one of the AMC huts. Then you might get a good sunset and sunrise. Plus, the chance to roam a bit away from the hut.

That's a great suggestion. We've seen some of the most incredible sunsets and sunrises of our lives from the huts. They are also a great place to go with kids. Here's a sample sunset from Madison to whet your appetite.



Hiking up in the dark to see the sun rise sounds really cool too. I'd be much more up for that than hiking down in the dark (since the reward is already past).

[TrishandAlex]

Done! Just booked Alex and I at Lakes of the Clouds. We'll do Monroe and Washington (split up over two days). This is great, Alex wants to do Washington but she's not yet ready to go up and down in one day (too much mileage with too much elevation gain for her right now). This way, she can do Washington this year like she wanted to, and the trek will be in two manageable pieces. Trip report to come in a few weeks.

Thanks for the idea, folks! And thanks to wcummings for the inspiration! Can't wait to see the sunset (don't know if I can wake Alex up for the sunrise, though).

ETA: Husband got jealous so now the whole family's booked. He and Sage will drive up the auto road and meet us there.