I'm interested in going on night hikes but I'm scared as shit of the dark and don't think I would be well prepared.
Any advice for someone who has never been on a night hike or night hike stories would be greatly appreciated.
Go out on a full moon, make sure there's not a lot of tree cover so you can see. It's good to hike in the snow because the moonlight will reflect off of it.
>>797108
Did lots and lots of dismounted night ops in Kandahar province. Night hiking is not something I would recommend to someone without NVGs. Sure on a clear moonlit night everything is great once your eyes have adjusted to the darkness, but a little bit of cloud cover rolls in a few hours into your march and then it's stumbling around in the pitch black kilometers from anything with only a depth-perception free green-tinted bumwad tube to protect you from tripping and breaking your ass. And that's without roots and branches to trip over.
Went for a night hike in a swamp in Jersey, around 4 AM the bugs and animals started becoming really active. Heard a blood curdling scream, too, probably something getting killed
>>797108
Done it a few times, desu i'd rather be on the moto. Much better headlight on that.
Don't need a fuckton of light for night hiking.
I do like having another flashlight with some good throw to it that can reach out and light things up further down the trail, but in general a little visor-clip work light is adequate. Let your eyes adjust and you can see breddy gud.
Full-moon nights (Tomorrow!) are fun, but don't depend on that for light.
Take things slower than you typically would.
I like riding the trail at least once in the day to get a feel for it and get to "know" the area before I do it at night.
Take a camera. Night time right time.
>1-minute exposure
>light from my 3-LED headlamp
>That red rock in the lower-right corner? That's from the "shutter-open" red indicator on my camera's timer/remote.
>>797614
a classic Muley pic right here! good advice too †bh
>>797614
>back at the trailhead
>midnight-ish
>can barely see hand in front of face without light
>set up camera on a log on the hillside by the parking lot
>manual everything, wide open
>wander back to moto, pull on my gear, get my pack ready to go again
>fire up bike, let it warm up
>go grab my camera
>pointing remote at hillside pressing button, trying to get it to shutter-close and light up the "I took a picture!" light on the front
>don't want to scan the hillside with my flashlight, lest I fuck up the photo
>wander around pressing remote button for a minute or two
>"where the fuck is my camera!"
>finally sees the remote, I see the shutter-closed indicator, and light up the hillside and grab the camera
>8.5-minute exposure
>press playback to reviw the photo
>pic related
>>797398
I wouldn't worry about it.
>>797398
Wouldn't worry about it.
The last time I did a night hike I'm pretty sure I was stalked by a mountain lion or some other large animal. For an hour and a half, all the way down the mountain, I could hear something large moving in the hills above me. It was audible noise separate from the typical forest sounds -- branches cracking and whatnot. Was pretty scary.
>>797685
Happened to me. Walks up to tent 3am and roars. Sounds like a radio tuning. I start screaming, spend until dawn yelling into bush.
>yell in mountains for 3 hours in the middle of the night
>this is probably why people believe in bigfoot
>>797108
For one, if you're thinking on hiking at night I'd at least recommend not going if it's a new moon, though you can if you want, preferably you'll probably want to hike during a full or half full moon as the light from makes it much easier to see in the dark.
Even still, I'd say bringing a flashlight as well, obviously. While full moons are usually bright, there might be some areas of woods where the moonlight is shaded by the trees, so it's best to shine a light at where you're stepping.
Which brings me to my next point: watch your step. Due to the low visibility, it's more risky traversing since you don't have sunlight to tell you where you're stepping. If you're not careful, you might fall and twist or even break your foot or leg. Like I said, try and shine your flashlight on the ground of the more dense and darker parts of the woods, so then you have a much easier way of telling where to step.
One more thing, if you get really scared when you're in the dark, try and remind yourself that it's just your primal instincts, and that it is perfectly natural for you to be a bit spooked or on your guard. That does not mean, however, that you shouldn't be cautious. While some noises or things you see in the distance might just be your mind playing tricks on you, there are still some animals that hunt during the night that may pose a threat. I'm not really much of a /k/ommando as alot of people are on this board because where I live we have no bears and deer are the most dangerous thing here, but most other people here can probably help you in that front.
One more optional thing, if you get bored or if you want to give it a bit more atmosphere, you can listen to some music while hiking if you want, but try to keep it at a low enough volume to where you can hear your surroundings. I'd recommend No Flashlight by Mount Eerie, it's calming atmospheric folk which is perfectly fitted for hiking at night.
