Crazy….Night Hike to Bondcliff

[Davehiker]

Nice to hear from you agin! A great post. Thanks.

It sounds like fun, but only on a trail you know well. Maybe I'll try Mt. Wachusett, and work my way up from there.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

I think it’s now official. I’ve confirmed that I am in fact hiking obsessed. And a little crazy. Solo night hiking to Bondcliff probably qualifies me as certifiable..

Not at all. Recently did part of wilderness trail also including a nightime bushwack to an off trail campsite as well. Almost every one of my camping trips includes a nightime hike. Sometimes multiple night hikes if the weather is extremely hot during the day. I almost never get to the trailhead before 10PM before I start hiking. It can be a great experience, truly enjoyable. If the moon is strong enough, turn off your light for the whole trip. Excellant description on how your whole world becomes that tiny cone of light. You are a poet. It is also even more amazing how small it gets when it is raining, what we used to call infantry nights. Heavy rain, so no visibility because no lights ever used, literally cannot see your hand in front of your face and all the white noise from the rainfall so you cannot hear anything either. Try running a 12 man patrol in that.

hiking along a noisy river, reducing my chances of hearing or being heard by a bear

One of the most uncomfortable solo camping nights I ever spent was camped next to a waterfall. When all you can hear is white noise, you start to imagine you can hear everything. I will never make that mistake again.


Sounds like you had a very good trip. Your now one of us.

Keith

 

[HikerAmiga]

A deep blue sky greeted me. A hazy moon glowed, the first natural light I had seen in hours. Color was returning to the world. I switched off my headlamp and looked up the wide open rock face. It was all remembered and even more after hours of darkness. As I meandered up the ridge, familiar bird songs heralded morning. Soon enough, streaks of pink tinted the clouds as the sky lighted to pale blue. The sun was rising. The long night was over.

This section of your TR writing just blew me away!! I could literally envision every step of your experience here but this part, was so refreshing to read!

Thanks for sharing your experience, Brenda!

Best,

 

[sugahjohn]

Thank you so much for sharing. It sounded like a wonderful experience, one that I would like to have someday. The most special of moments seem to happen when we walk through our fears, open ourselves up and put our selves in a position to experience them. I'm so happy for you.

John

 

[Mad Townie]

Geezum, Peri, when you come back from not hiking you don't fool around!

Oh, and good thing you had that lighter!

 

[RoySwkr]

Remember that "Cateyes" climbed both the 48 and the 46 at night, often in winter when there's more dark. I did only 1 entirely at night, but used no artificial light.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t completely oblivious to the dangers. If something went wrong, there would be no chance of help from passersby. I was on my own.

Not true, how 'bout those campers

Actually I did a Bonds trip once in October where I met noone in daylight. Had planned to start at dawn but arrived too early and saw no reason to wait, met a guy hiking out Wilderness Trail who had camped as long as possible but was going back to work that day. Then saw nobody on peaks. Hiking out in dark, met a couple who had camped for awhile and that evening were returning from supply trip to town.

 

[Periwinkle]

When I did Franconia Ridge as a night loop, I remember the feelings in the woods, and how they melted away as soon as I got to the moonlight-bathed treeless top. It's like being on another world.

Mikey and I are still tossing around the idea of a Pemi loop night hike -- Franconia Ridge by moonlight, sleep on the Garfield Ridge Trail, Bonds by moonlight. The only issue is finding a quiet place to ZZZZ during the day on the GRT.

We'll see. I'm surprised Mikey's even still speaking to me after this trip -- after carrying my black dog (Chap didn't like the south side of S. Twin and a few places on the way out to Bondcliff), schleping all the water from Guyot, and waiting up for me to radio in kind of pushed the limits already!

If this ever does happen, hopefully it will be on a night with more natural night. I usually can switch off my headlamp in places, but last Saturday wasn't one of those times.

FYI -- The Boncliff trail junction sign is still there and would be extremely visable in normal conditions. I only worried about seeing it after I nearly missed noticing the Osseo turn-off with all the ground fog and no light other than my own headlamp.

And in the future, I'll keep in mind that I may not be the only one crazy enough to be on the trail at night...

Finally -- I posted a few pictures here: http://community.webshots.com/album/551665189utHuHP

 

[bunchberry]

Brenda, I really loved reading your trip report. I think you are a brave, brave woman! And here I am just gearing up for my first ever solo hike DURING THE DAY...

Hope to see you on the trails!

-katie

 

[dvbl]

Dear Periwinkle, I plead "guilty" to the charge of sexism and hereby place myself at the mercy of the court. After reading that you had done this solo night-hike to Bondcliff, it never even entered my mind that you might be a woman. Upon reading the follow-up posts, I now know that you are. Please be lenient, as this is my first offense (today).

Great hike and great post.

 

[skibones]

Great report and great hike. You're an inspiration to those of us dreaming of doing a night hike like that.

 

[Artex]

Awesome trip report. Nicely described. Sounds like a great adventure.

 

[Periwinkle]

Dear Periwinkle, I plead "guilty" to the charge of sexism and hereby place myself at the mercy of the court. After reading that you had done this solo night-hike to Bondcliff, it never even entered my mind that you might be a woman. Upon reading the follow-up posts, I now know that you are. Please be lenient, as this is my first offense (today).

Great hike and great post.

LOL. Thanks!

I consider that a compliment. I've been accused of having 'nads in the past and am actually quite proud of that considering that I started out such a chicken little.

And thanks again to everyone for all of your kind remarks. Makes me...

 

[FreightTrain]

Nice trip report. I have been doing a lot of solo night hiking since chainging jobs. With fewer vacation days then I like, it is not possible to hike in with the rest of my group. Often I start in around 9m and get to their camps around nidnight. I have come to enjoy the nught hikes. I seem to make better time with less distractions and fewer rest stops. You also get the feeling that the wilderness is all to yourself. I've come to the conclusion that that the only real fear is your own imagination. It is a whole different experience at night. I'm up for a moonlight hike along Franconia Ridge if you need some company.

FreightTrain

 

[Maddy]

What a great trip report. You had me spellbound. I am jealous. The "boys" are quite handsome and very rugged. Your pics are beautiful.
Thanks for sharing a great adventure with us.

 

[Seeker]

Kudos for a well planned and executed hike! A night hike is on my list--I just haven't made it happen yet. Not quite sure about the solo part though...I'm a bit like Audrey in that I create many monsters when I'm alone in the dark. I was caught out at night on the trail from Sugarloaf down to Carribou Valley Rd. and I was all jumpy most of the way down. Coming down the slide in the dark in a light rain was particularly interesting.

You might try keeping the light off when hiking a familiar, easy-to-follow trail as the evening gets darker. Most people's night vision is better than they are aware of. (Takes 20-30 min for full night visiion to develop.)

Agreed. I don't think I've ever turned on my headlamp except when absolutely necessary (see above) when I've hiked out in the dark. IMO, you can actually see much better without the headlamp--you don't get that tunnel vision going.