[pct-l] Desert Night hiking.

[Gary Wright]

On Sep 7, 2011, at 12:58 PM, Nathaniel Morse wrote:

> Thoughts about hiking in the desert at night?.... Is it safe? Recommended?
> Or not...? I've heard that it can get pretty hot and nasty from 11 til 5...
> so what about starting early, 5am and hiking til 11, sleeping, and then
> hiking from 5 til 1 am.... good idea? or not?

I don't think it is any more dangerous than hiking during the day and it is probably less dangerous than trying to hike through the heat of the day.  That being said I think that it isn't necessary to hike "all night".  If you get up early, rest during the heat of the day, and hike for 4-5 hours towards the end of the day it isn't too hard to get in 10-11 hours of hiking.

I do find Joshua trees to be much more creepy at night than during the day though :-)  In 2007 I hiked from Kelso Valley Road to the trail junction leading to Willow Spring in the late afternoon and into the evening.  It happened to be pretty close to a full moon and while hiking directly into the rising moon I had to keep my hat on and my head down to avoid being blinded by the glare of the full moon.  A unique and memorable experience.

Radar