[pct-l] This Year's Going to Be Awesome! Woo!

[Stephen Clark]

If the point of hiking the PCT is to 'experience the trail' why hike at
night?  Doesn't experiencing the trail means being able to see your
surroundings, dealing with the elements, and feeling good about what you
have accomplished/over come?  Why hike at night?


On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 5:57 AM, Eric Martinot <eric at martinot.info> wrote:

> Yes, night hiking is a great way to reduce water use, plus lots of fun.
>  Did most of Hat Creek Rim at night with probably 2 liters less water than
> daytime, for example.
>
> But I disagree with Robert about the trade-off against injury.  I
> night-hiked parts of SoCal and also hot parts of NoCal and never had any
> problem with stumbling or injury.  I think the type of lamp you use makes a
> big difference. I found the Princeton EOS lamp had a great circular beam
> that lasted about 10-12 hours on one set of AAA on the "medium" setting,
> easy to walk all night without paying much attention.
>
> The main trade-off for me was less heat/sun/water, versus prolonged sleep
> deprivation.  I hiked late afternoon through late evening, then before-dawn
> through late morning, but never could sleep more than about 2-3 hours
> during afternoon naps.  Only 4-5 hours per night plus afternoon naps wasn't
> enough, and sleep deprivation became serious enough to reduce enjoyment of
> the trail.
>
> Eric
>
> Robert Henry rrh.henry at gmail.com
> Thu Jan 23 16:24:24 CST 2014
>
> Amplifying a little on what Barry said...
>
> HIke at night, get some sleep, then get up before first light and hike at
> first light.  Sleep during the day.
>
> When night hiking, you are trading off hydration issues against injury by
> fall as you stumble along.
>
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