[pct-l] Hiking at Night and Misc

[hiker97 at aol.com]

Before I go hiking I look up on the web and print out the phases of the moon.? One the full moon night I plan to hike at night.? This is really neat.? I check my list when I am out there to see if it might be a good night to do a little hiking if the weather, clouds, etc., permits.? Speaking of weather, I print out the weather forecasts for my trip too.? All this information weighs a fraction of a gram and is very useful.

At night I try to be like an Indian.? I try to walk along the trail as quietly as I can, especially before a hill, to see if I can come up on anything.? It never works.? At a campsite in the Sierras, I go out and see if I can find some bears to harasses.??They usually find me.? They seem to have?union rules.??There are the ones who come around in the daylight and the ones who come around at night.??

I carry a monocular.? It is very high quality.? It is not the $40 kind from REI.? This weighs a few ounces or less.? It is fantastic for nature viewing.? I always think?it would be upsetting to see something neat out there and then not have a device to get up close.? The only thing I have come up with is a?monocular.? High quality optics do make a difference and are easy on the eyes.? I carry it in my belly pack for quick access.

Also, I?heard years ago at the Ranger Station Bear Paw Meadows on the High Sierra?Trail, that a hiker had a mountain lion come up behind him in the Big Arroyo.? It jumped on his pack then took off.? The tent camp dinning room?help told me that a lion had come into the?camp and taken down a deer.? They said the?commotion was very loud.??? 

The Switchback