NIGHT HIKING

                                                            
                                                NIGHT HIKING

     Plans are mandatory for backpacking trips, as no planning can result in a crappy trip. We've all been there once. As we all know life is, well, indeed life. Plans change and move. Two months ago in September, my friend and I planned a trip to Royal lake, Olympic National Park. Plans were made weeks in advance and anticipation was growing day by day.
     The night before the trip my boss asked me to work a 9 to 5 shift instead of the usual 6 to 2, so we changed our approach. Getting off at 5pm would make arriving to the trailhead at 9 pm in the dark. After talking, we decided to keep course and hike through the night!!!! Crazy!!! But sane.... right?!!Don't answer that!
     We hit the trailhead at 10 pm. Pitch black! Headlamps turned on and off we went up the trail. After 4 hours of hiking, our destination appeared before us. The rest of the backpacking adventure was hiked in daylight.
     Now that I look back on the trip I would have it no other way. Hiking in the dark was simply amazing. It was my first time hiking in the dark, definitely not my last. Most of the time hiking is done in daylight, of course, with night time being reserved for cooking dinner, star gazing and getting zzz's at camp.

     Night hiking has many benefits. The first is that if the night's sky is clear you will gaze upon amazing views. I've seen the night's sky littered with stars before but it's even more amazing as satellites and shooting stars stream across the sky and as galaxies encompass oneself . A full moon is the best time to hike as it lights up the night. I didn't expect shooting stars but in retrospect next year I am going to plan a trip during an asteroid storm!
    The first 3 miles of our hike was under old growth forest but the rest of the 4 miles, the trees disappeared and stars and mountain ridges outlined the starry sky. Any snowy mountains were bright because of the reflection of the moon and made an awesome contrast of black and white. We were able to throw off our head lamps and hike by pure moonlight. Unfortunately my camera batteries died and I was not able to catch all the great contrasts.
     We hiked to Royal Lake on day one and explored Mount Deception's northern basins on day two. Day three we hiked up and over Mount Fricaba off trail and connected to Marmot Pass Trail.  If we had hiked back out the same way we came in, the whole hike would still be new. The last mile out, Marmot Trail, connects to Royal Lake Trail which was on the same trail we were on day one and all I could remember was tall trees and the elevation gain. I didn't see the huge boulders and gigantic downed trees which were scattered in the dark. It's like hiking two different trails which is awesome and makes hiking more interesting on a non-loop trail.
     Safety is a big concern, so mom you can now relax a little. I Never go hiking alone in the dark. The danger of predators is nerve racking as the darkness brings the unknown. Animal behavior at night can be more active for certain animals. Our headlamps were very bright, therefore any animal would see us before we see them  preventing us from starling a bear. I always hang my keys or a pot from my backpack so there is always noise as we hike.
      Night hiking is unconventional and will never be the norm. But as i discovered at Royal Lake night hiking will always be apart of my trip planning in future years. With special advanced organization of future full moons and meteorite showers 2012's night backpacking will be notched up one bar. So don't be surprised to hear a group of hikers straggling in around 2 or 3 in the morning setting up camp during your next outing!!!
Thanks to Cody France for the great Photos!!

Hammocks are guaranteed comfort, most of the time!

Backpacking with a hammock is heaven! I discovered this through a good friend and couldn't resist the temptation to purchase one. After laying in my friends hammock, later the same week I rushed to REI and hooked myself up with a Eno singlenest  hammock. Yes they do make a doublenest. Since that day sleeping anywhere in the mountains has been splendid and completely comfortable until my last trip.

          Royal lake in the Olympic national park is a majestic alpine basin surrounded my seven 7,000 foot mountains. The trip was three days and two nights. The first night was sweet, pure sleep!! Second Night, not as much. The night started off well, like normal. Tarp tied up over my hammock with my body coming to rest a foot and half away from the ground. Wind gusts started blowing and are normal at 5,000 feet up. I didn't tie my tarp down securely to the surrounding spruce trees and half of the trap blew off. After pissing i fixed the wind damage and jumped back in the hammock hoping for more sleep.
                Twenty minutes later a strange rustling sound came from my left. Nerves started pounding, thinking it was a bear. It continued with what sounded like a hoofed animal digging and munching on a late night snack. No grunts or wicked bear smell. Most likely it was a Mountain goat but I couldn't see from under my tarp.

         Back to sleep with more high winds. My tarp blew off again but this time it was the half covering my head. Being half asleep and not wanting to get my lazy hinnie out i simply laid my head on the opposite side of my hammock. Easy enough, back to sleep...oh sleep i love sleep.
        Sunlight beamed down from the peaks of the mountain vistas and it's already 8 o'clock. Breakfast and building a fire are now on their way. As the fire starts to warm my legs i realize that i feel well rested. Surprising, realizing i just slept with my legs higher that my head.
        Half hour goes by as we are packing up and suddenly i feel bloated. My stomach starts to ache and ache. Oh crap, half a stick of salami last night with a night of sleeping like a bat is now reeking havoc on my stomach.
        The trip has to go on, we want to hike out off trail over Mount Fricaba's north extending ridge to connect back to the marmot pass trail to conclude our loop hike. I trudge on stopping every 5 minutes to take off my backpack, lay down and pass some serious gas again, again and again. After about and hour and half the cramping stops and exploring now becomes exciting again.

         I never thought i would be sharing this for my first blog post. I guarantee their will never be another blog post or hiking adventure with the words salami, hammock and gas together. Hammocks are great and comfortable but don't forget to KEEP YOUR HEAD UP!!!