[pct-l] Night lighting

[Kevin Cook]

Thank god I'm not the only one that hates street lights. There is only one
on my street, until it turns a bend, and it's next to my neighbor's house.
It seriously affects the star gazing from my driveway. More than once I've
thought about what I could do with a nice pellet rifle, but I know "they"
would just come fix it. I hate those damn things!

That being said, I like my light. I bought the one I have specifically
because it has a red LED. White lights are way too bright when it's dark.
They hurt my eyes. I am glad though it can do white though. Sometimes I need
to see my food more clearly than the red light allows. ;)

On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 8:32 PM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

> I found a headlamp a few hours beyond Mojave Dam at a little camping
> area somebody carved into the chaparral near a spring. If it's yours
> and you can tell me what year you lost it and describe it, I'll
> return it. It has three LED lights. It's very light. It's very dim.
> It was perfect for my needs.
>
> I have usually hiked without any light at all, or at most with a one
> LED light that I could clip to the bill of my cap. I enjoy fumbling
> in the dark for some reason. I really, really hate light at night.
> Years ago I had a studio apartment in town that faced the street.
> Somebody came to the door asking me to sign a petition to put street
> lights on my street. I told them I would never sign such a petition.
> What about safety? Criminals? I countered, What about stars? What
> about sleep? They put the darn light in and I had to pull down a
> blind every night to sleep but my room was still pink from those
> infernal sodium vapor lights. Curse from hell, those things are.
>
> I'm not a big nighthiker, but one LED is enough to hike a little bit
> at night if you aren't in a hurry. Three is absolute luxury. Mostly I
> use it for reading.
>
> There's so much excitement involved in getting ready for a big
> adventure like hiking the PCT. You think of all these cool things you
> can get to enhance your experience. By god you NEED some of these
> things. The real gift of hiking a long trail like this is you learn
> you don't need most of it. You start sending stuff home so you can
> lighten your load. You start sending stuff home because you really
> don't need it. Your gear gets smaller and smaller and your happiness
> rises higher and higher. You acclimatize to being outside. You aren't
> cold anymore. The heat's not so bad. Hills? Yeah, so what? 15 miles
> to the next water? Yay, that's one of the shorter stretches. Soon you
> don't care that your stove is made from an old can, your water bottle
> brand names are for liquid long drunk not for empty containers
> backpackers are supposed to have. Your maps were downloaded for free.
> You have a sixth sense about the trail and can find your way pretty
> well and don't need the GPS anymore except for its entertainment
> value. The tent you have, the sleeping bag, you barely notice which
> brand you bought and you couldn't care less what brand your friends
> have. Ahh, the freedom of the trail, the freedom to just BE and not
> to HAVE.
>
> I miss the trail SO MUCH!
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
>