Night Hiking or Backpacking

[SuperstitionGuy]

Arizona heat often requires HAZ users to hit the trail at night or in the predawn hours of the morning. As there is no Article or Thread on this subject please share with us your experiences. The good and the bad, recommended trails and why, what you do and don't do and what you believe inexperienced night hikers need to know. I will review, assemble, plagiarize :whistle: and put all this information into a HAZ Article for future users of HAZ. Include information that you may have already posted elsewhere or what others may have posted (just give them the credit, please). Looking forward to your input. Let's help each other and the newbies to Arizona night hiking and thanks to all that will be contributing. Let's keep this thread going also as you discover new methods to make this night time travel more interesting and safe.

[Nighthiker]

Some places do not allow nighthiking. Don't park in the trailhead otherwise the Park Folks think it has a lost or overdue hiker. You will be surprized how many people pitch tents across trails. Unlike the offroad folks, you do not need a lot of light. Worried about a lurking lion that may pounce on you ? Wear a scary halloween mask on the back of your head (worked so far).

[PaleoRob]

Take a headlamp, just to make sure you can get through the moon-shadows. Knowing where you're going becomes pretty crucial at night, since it is much harder to see landmarks.

[joebartels]

It's been my experience that super hot and dry is most enjoyable. The notion to enjoy a cool night after a monsoon turns into an unpleasant sweat fest.

For some reason the rule of snakes being out predominately at dusk/dawn is hobble wash during monsoon season. Once on a late night sojourn to Black Top Mesa in August following an evening storm we witnessed more active snakes along First Water than seemed feasible. With cloud cover blocking the starlight and a new moon in cycle it was as pitch dark as I ever recall. In those conditions several reliable light sources are your only hope.

[nonot]

Night hiking seldom-travelled trails may not be feasible without the help of a good accurate GPS. I can recall a time following a trail in the Supes getting led astray by a game trail or campsite trail navigating by the (rather bright) moonlight. It took a good 20 minutes with the help of a GPS to find the proper turn (thirty feet from where we were looking), which likely would be more easily noticeable in the daylight.

Obviously bringing lights with you, especially a headlamp, possibly a flashlight as well, is obvious.

What's less obvious is that due to the rocky nature of most Arizona hikes, it is even easier to twist your ankle when hiking in the dark in rough terrain as it becomes hard to look both at the rocks under your feet and the way ahead, with one light source.

[azbackpackr]

I have done this stuff. I really prefer sleeping at night, however!

Once on a night hike in Pima Canyon by Tucson, one of our Scouts stepped on a rattlesnake. He was unbitten, so this event became a campfire story down through the years.

Using a light only destroys your night vision. I have not really enjoyed night hikes I've been on with a local club in Tucson because, for whatever reason, people will not take the time to get their eyes adjusted and were always turning on their flashlights, ruining EVERYONE'S night vision, not just their own. Often these hikes were up the road in Sabino Canyon, so not actually hikes at all, just walking on pavement. Not really dark, either, with that big city overglow lending light.

You really need to take the time to see what your night vision will provide you and how well it will work for you. You have to just trust a little that it will work. Although there are some people who have a medical eye problem, for most people it is just a matter of getting used to the idea. DO NOT TURN ON YOUR LIGHT! Give it a try, you might be surprised.

The guy who got eaten by the lion in Pinos Altos, New Mexico, a couple of weeks ago (see my post about that) was outside at night a lot. Presumeably without benefit of scary Halloween mask! What an interesting idea! I love it!

However, I still prefer sleeping at night!! I am not opposed to starting a hike at 4 a.m. in the almost-dark, however.

[big_load]

Once on a night hike in Pima Canyon by Tucson, one of our Scouts stepped on a rattlesnake.

I've done a fair amount of nighthiking elsewhere, but not much in AZ. I'm especially cautious during snake season, but I worry about other night creatures, too, like skunks. Besides escaping summer heat, night hiking is a great way to extend your range in cooler seasons when daylight is short. However, I don't like to miss the scenery, so I do it mainly on trails I've hiked before during the day

[Dschur]

I have hiked many times in the Grand Canyon with the full moon. On Bright Angel you need a flashlight for the shadows but on the Kaibab Trail it is really neat to do the hike on that trail without a light. It is more open and you don't need a flashlight at all there. Head lamps I found don't work as well as a flashlight in your hand it seems you lose you depth perception with the light coming from about your eyes. If you hold it or it is at waist level the shadows of the rocks are visible and you can see the rocks better. It also gets ride of the mules and one milers on the trails at night they are afraid to hike the trails. One year though it was still a blast furnace feeling from Skeleton point it was July and even at night you could feel the heat coming out of the canyon. It had been 117 in the canyon that day.

[SuperstitionGuy]

Good start for this thread. Lets keep it going and please ask questions as well, such as:
Has anyone experimented with the different color led flashlights and how they affect your night vision?

[SuperstitionGuy]

Head lamps I found don't work as well as a flashlight in your hand, it seems you lose your depth perception with the light coming from about your eyes. If you hold it, or it is at waist level the shadows of the rocks are visible and you can see the rocks better.

This has been my experience as well. Holding a very low light source in my hand dosen't destroy my night vision but it does highlight very well the irregularities of the trail.

[big_load]

Many people claim red lenses do the least to impair night vision. I have a red pop-in lens for my Petzl Zipka Plus, but I haven't tried it yet. I normally try to hike on the lowest or middle setting.

[Dschur]

Of course red flashlights are the best for night vision. That is why you can only use a red light at a telescope get together. Your eyes stay dialated and then they can still see in the dark. The only problem sometimes is that people think that they need a mega watt flashlight and use a thin or pink colored filter which is just as bad as having a normal flashlight. Our house has lots of lights that are red and I move around in the dark many times. (My husband is out taking pictures in the backyard when the light need to be out). Our cabin is very much red lights with it being one of the reasons we got the cabin to do Astronomy up there..

[joebartels]

My little Petzl Zipka may not be the ideal source for enjoyment. However it's ultra light weight and ridiculously efficient longevity make it ideal for "unplanned" night hikes. Bug spray, sunscreen and other items get tossed frequently but that popcorn weight Petzl never leaves the pack. I utilize Dawn's below the waist level method due to depth perception issues too. Unfortunately that turns a hike into more of a concentrated survival walk. I agree with Elizabeth to a certain point on not needing light, especially on city or near city hikes. However I know first hand with no moon and an overcast sky away from the city it gets too dark for me to see. There must be a some scientific study on how dark the human eye can adjust.

One thing about night hiking is your sense of sound is elevated. For the most part it's immensely peaceful!

[Jeffshadows]

I've always enjoyed seeking out sandy, well-worn and wide trails for night hikes on evenings with a nice full moon. No extra light needed, and it's a whole different experience than hiking the same trail in daylight. Many of the trails in the higher elevations of the Catalinas are perfect for this...

[SuperstitionGuy]

For some reason the rule of snakes being out predominately at dusk/dawn is hobble wash during monsoon season. Once on a late night sojourn to Black Top Mesa in August following an evening storm we witnessed more active snakes along First Water than seemed feasible.

If you find yourself in a situation such as this, as you hike, stamp your hiking staff hard into the ground each step, as rattle snakes are very sensitive to ground vibration. This will warn them of your approach and they in turn will warn you with their rattle or at least try to crawl away from you.

If you meet a skunk, stamp your hiking staff or foot on the ground three times as fast as you can. This is a second method skunks use to warn others and they will understand it as well coming from you. You might turn your light off as you do it so as not to blind them and make you a better target as well. After you stamp the warning and turn your light back on the skunk will be hightailing (oops bad term used here) out of your way. If your in your tent and a suspected skunk begins to explore your campsite do the three stamp with your hand. Don't know if this works with ring tailed cats. For some reason I never thought to try it. I just usually throw small rocks and pebbles at them until I hit one. Then they usually run away and don't come back. Somebody give the three stamp warning a try with ring tailed cats and let us know if it works or not....

If your only carrying a headlamp, nothing says it has to be on your head. Carry it in your hand low to your waist until you need a two hands free situation.

Good input thus far, lets keep it up folks.

[azbackpackr]

I was sleeping out under the stars one time near Onion Saddle in the Chiricahuas when a skunk decided to investigate. It was walking around near and ON the foot of my sleeping bag and also my sons' sleeping bags. (My daughter and husband were, intelligently, sleeping in the tent.) There was nothing to do but hold still so as not to alarm it. Same as when the bear sniffed my hair, up in Canada. I held still, it went away eventually.

Oh, yeah, okay, I admit, it scared the s*** out of me. The bear did, anyway. The skunk was, well, a big concern. What are you going to do, you're out there, you get sprayed in the face? Pack up and drive back to Tucson and your shower? In the middle of the night? Anyway, the skunk went away without spraying us.

I can barely stay awake past 8 p.m. these days, however. I have no interest in astronomy for this reason. You have to be outside and awake during the night. Just the thought of it makes me sleepy. First time I drove out of town to see the annual August meteor shower will also be the last time. I had thought there would be LOTS of them, but they fall only once every minute or two. Not like hundreds of them all at once, which was what I had pictured. Sometimes there are several at once, but not enough to make me want to bother with it again. Seen one meteor, seen them all. I made my wishes on the falling stars, they never did come true anyway.

There really are a lot of mountain lions in the White Mountains. A LOT of them, seriously. I really don't think night hiking is wise to do around here. At least during the day you do have a chance of seeing one that is checking you out as a possible meal. Then you can try to scare it away, take other precautions, etc.

[chumley]

Like spelunking, be prepared with extra light or batteries if you are in need of light or on an unfamiliar trail. My batteries died on my last night hike and I would have been in some trouble if I hadn't have been hiking with somebody else. Even so, it was a challenge.

I've also made a few wrong turns at night that would have been very easy to see during the day. So I prefer to hike on trails that I've been on before, or on very-well traveled trails where route-finding is not a problem in the dark.

I prefer to hike with no light, but as Joe pointed out, there are times where it is just too dark for my eyes to adjust. Then I will sometimes hike with a red light to avoid the harshness of white light.

[nonot]

I have a red LED option on my cheapo headlamp and it really does preserve your night vision to an extent. It's my preferred choice for doing anything except reading. The one problem being the red light makes just about everything look the same grey color, so don't expect to look at anything color coded and make sense of it!

[SuperstitionGuy]

be prepared with extra light or batteries...

And check your spare light and batteries before you leave home as well as there is nothing more frustrating than to find that you have been carrying dead batteries!

Guided some Boy Scouts one night past Tortilla Ranch, down into Fish Creek Canyon and upstream to a campsite in front of a big cave. I had to walk waist deep in the creek leading the two pack horses as they did not like walking in water where they could not see the bottom.

So the question is, what is the best way to evaluate stream crossings in the middle of the night and safely cross?

[PaleoRob]

Yeah, red light is definitely nice for preserving night vision. When I'm doing a carcass drop, though, I usually will use the white-light option. Carrying 80 lbs on my back makes me want to make sure I can see, not just hope I've given my eyes enough time to adjust.