[pct-l] Night lighting

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

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!