August 16

I'm still loving the new sleeping bag. I've been able to sleep like a baby with a full stomach and no miles to hike... In the words of my good friend Louis "Poptart" "I could zero forever!". My mom showed up today and I have to say that I am impressed with her pack weight. She kept it really low which means we'll be able to put miles in blister free and with happy feet.

My story for this post since there is no hiking to write about is going to be my experience with night hiking. I've had two recent opportunities to hike at night and both describe a little about the experience, but I want to explain in greater detail what it is like for those who maybe have never had a chance to try it. 

The first thing I noticed as I stepped out of my tent at 3:45 am was how vivid the Milky Way was especially now that the moon had set. There was no light in the sky natural or unnatural. Portland, OR had a faint glow to my east by northeast, but it was so far and faded that it did not take away from the brilliance in the night sky. I'll never forget looking at the heavens that night. After packing everything up, I was hiking at 4:05 am. With my headlamp illuminating the path in front of me I hiked to the top of a ridge that I would follow for most of the day. Atop the ridge, the sky opened up as trees faded behind and the pitch black remained. I kept looking up, distracted by the magic in the sky and every time I did so my light went skyward. This caused me to stumble quite often, to the point where I had to make a conscious effort to pay attention to the trail and not the sky. I took quite a few breaks, and was just a little sad to miss the view from the south side of Mt. Jefferson because I knew how amazing they were on the north side. It was really neat to be on the ridge top just as the morning light started to break in the east and see the light from the forest fires burning in two different directions. As night gave way into day the morning chill came rushing over the ridge. I believe this phenomenon is due to the vapor layer being burned off by the sun. Someone can google that for a fact check if they want. It always seems to get really chilly before dawn and that is the explanation I have been told. I still am impressed with the photos taken with long shutter exposure and hope I get a few more chances to try it out. I plan to be on the Crater Lake rim for the sunrise so my next chance might be a week from tomorrow. If you ever have the chance to be at elevation for sunrise it is beyond worth the effort of waking up and something I highly recommend. I wasn't on top of the world or even as high as the peaks around me, just at about 6,000 ft. looking directly east.