String fullTitle = 'night hikes :)';
int postNumber = 2721913;
String image = '1713496601906343.png';
String date = '04/18/24(Thu)23:16:41';
String comment = 'surprised I haven't seen a thread based on this, but seeing as it's probably retarded in 95% of cases I concede that I may be stupid myself
I've taken quite a liking to night hikes. More specifically, nights with full/near full moons with minimal cloud cover. poorfag so no NVGs, but goddamn are the night skies bright when you catch them with good illumination. bright enough that you don't even need a headlamp depending on how thick the veg is.
reasons I enjoy them
>colder, less effort into layering/heat management when hoofing it hard
>quiet
>nobody to spook when I walk by in kit (I like the weight)
>that midnight-to-3AM atmosphere
>that beautiful stillness, the sky full of stars, and the grayscale palette
some hikes I frequent are near enough to town that even if the skies are cloudy, the light from the town is enough to hike without a headlamp. granted, I like these less as I feel less 'lost,' but when I'm needing to blow off some steam it's nice to be able to drive 15min to a trail any night of the week to fuck around a bit.
the one downside I genuinely consider is mountain lion, seeing as they are fairly common in my area. I've had a couple run ins, from being stalked by a mother and what I assume were her cubs, to spooking one on the trail (and damn near shitting my pants :) ). this, and the fact that if you don't plan correctly/plan too much, you'll end up with no sleep, as opposed to maybe 5h on a weeknight.';
'>>2721913
I live 1/4 mile from 40,000 acres of county and national park. I've had people drop me off at one of the other trailheads and walked home at night under a full moon. There are mountain lions out there, and unconfirmed reports of lizard men.';
'I did my first night hike last week. I own more winter gear than summer gear and I work nights so night hiking makes sense for me. had a really good time and I'm going to try to go again this week. might try and catch the sunrise';
'>>2721913
Last night hike I did was in the Olympic Peninsula. I was hiking and just enjoying myself, off in the distance about maybe 60 feet I see some eyes, seen a bunch of deer early so I just think it's that so I keep walking, get maybe 30 feet away and realize it's a cougar (My headlamp is more of a flooder than thrower). It's just staring at me and begins to walk towards me at the low (that low walk cats do before chasing shit) so I begin to yell and scream at it with no luck, took my rifle and shot near it in hopes to scare it off, instead It just gets super low and stares me down, I begin to walk backwards, still yelling at it as I slowly fuck off and away.
I no longer solo night hike.';
'I often did night hikes because I departed late from home and got there in the evening or night.
one time I was going up a mountain in winter, the trail stopped at one point and it was all snow and ice, alot of wind and was snowing, wanted to reach my destination at the top but it was too dark even with the headlamp and there was no path so I risked getting lost and too deep in it to make it back in time to not get frozen feet(shitty boots that I have since replaced).
got to a point and decided to go back because I realized I want getting anywhere, and didnt want to sleep there because it was the side of a mountain covered in snow and wind, so I went back to the trail and slept there and got to my destination the next morning.';
'I like night hiking a lot except a few hours in the bubble of my headlamp starts to make me kinda of claustrophobic';
'>>2721913
I can't imagine hiking with NVGs is comfy anyways.
>when I walk by in kit
Oh youre one of those LARPers';
}