Date: 2003-12-15
To: East Fork National Forest
Miles today: 0.0

Since I work Monday through Friday 8pm-midnight its difficult to get any length of hiking trip in. So I had the great idea to hike at night. The day before the hike all was clear with the rangers and they knew I was going to be hiking at night, they said it would be ok. They also said it was going to be a bit muddy. But once I told them that I was getting ready to hike the Appalachian trail (AT) he knew I knew what I was doing... ya.. I fooled him. Since I waited till the very last hour to pack and find all my gear the night of¢¦. packing was rushed and highly disorganized. I Was already late for work and only had half my gear found and still need to scrounge together food.After work I headed south towards camp. Stopped at every Meijer store on the way down looking for a sun visor... Its mid November and I¢m looking for a sun visor used in the car. The store guys thought I was a loony. To my luck 3 different stores did not carry the one piece of equipment I so desperately needed. Let me explain myself. Instead of a tent I use a hammock. Its a camping hammock complete with bug netting, and a tarp over top to keep the rain out. The advantages of using a hammock are great. For starters you can sleep anywhere you like. The ground can be uneven or covered with sharp pointy rocks. I¢ve even seen a picture of a guy sleeping over a swamp in his hammock. All you need are 2 trees about 15-20 feet apart. The rain protection is excellent, and ventilation is also great.What¢s the disadvantage? It makes for cold sleeping. When the cold air blows under the hammock it steals valuable body heat. So it is recommended that one use a Mylar sun visor (the shiny foil looking ones) and a foam pad to create an insulating layer to reflect the body heat back.Disappointed and getting even more restless I grabbed some power bars and a box of cereal and headed towards the park. About 15min before reaching the the park I start getting really nervous for 2 reasons. I¢ve never hiked in the dark alone (my largest fear) and have never hiked alone period, even during the daytime. so you can imagine how creepy it was to see that massive park sign lit by huge flood lights. Seconds after turning into the drive the city lights began to fade. It got darker and darker. Could see eyes of creatures in the woods lit by my headlights. Got to the parking lot that was lit by a single light only to find I am the only car parked in the lot. This was the main lot of the park and was large enough for a small strip mall. I was freekin at this point. Checked the map, got the gear together and stepped out of the car. It was dead silent. Could hear the flagpole 100 yards away slowly dinging in the light breeze. This has been a fear of mine since I was a kid. The dark and unknown... alone. It was foggy with light drizzle, not encouraging at all. I consulted the map again and then quickly walked into the dark darkness. Flashlight in hand but decided not to use it. The campsite was half a mile deep without any turn offs, or difficult terrain. So I was safe. Or so I thought. After about 2 min of hiking I saw a light ahead of me. There appeared to be a house with a light on it. Then as I got closer I could see there was a parking lot.... with a car that looked just like mine... This was not a good start... it was already 3:30am. Hiked down the road just a bit shining my light into the woods trying to find the trailhead. Sure enough I found it. Again I did not use a light. It was cold wet and very very muddy. The trail was full of puddles that reached my knee. Oh and yes, its about 40 degrees out just to make it even more miserable. The trail ended into another trail. At this point the flashlight came out after an hour of hiking by only dim moonlight. Threw the pack down and studied the now went map. This is where I started to panic and pace up and down looking for the trail to be picked up again. To my horror I could not find the white blaze. There was just about every other color. green, blue, (both very close in color) yellow, but no white. It was now 4:30 I¢m wet, cold, and scared out of my whit¢s... The map was no use because it only showed the white blazed path. My luck eh? Followed the green path to a road and followed the road for a good 20 min and came to a car pull off with a map booth!!! After consulting the map I found that for an hour I was walking blind on a maze of horse trails. A sweep of my flashlight revealed a pair of eyes not more than 50 yards away... I could not see a shape, but all I know is the eyes were fixed on me, and would not move even with a few shouts and movements of my arms. Frankly I was too scared to hang around and slowly walked away checking my back every few steps. The map said the trailhead was all the way back down the road and on the left.(Also a good tip... don't use a turquoise light to read a map or night hike with... it will turn any white blaze into a green one.... )found the trailhead and chuckled at myself, what else was there to do? These blazes and trail markings were HORRIBLE! It was so overgrown that I could not have found the trail in the daytime let alone 5:30 in the morning. The mind is a powerful tool, and a powerful enemy. Adrenaline was flowing big time. These blazes were so old that it was hard to tell the blaze from moss... not only were they poor quality but they were spaced really far apart. I¢m surprised not to still be stuck in those woods today. Then I could see a clearing up ahead... for sure this was the campsite they were talking about... Looked at the map, and could actually pinpoint my location... my location was about a mile past the campsite.At this point the sun was beginning to rise. Took the road a bit and came to a trailhead just as the map showed. Sat down for the first time in 3 and a half hours and had a power bar. Decided the road back to the car was the best choice, and indeed it was. An hour and a half later I was back at the car... what a sight to see. Many lessons learned on that trip. But no regrets, stuff I had to learn on my own, it was a good feeling to think for myself and call my own shots, even if the planned overnight camping trip turned into a day hike.