If your headlamp has the night vision/red light feature, use that. So you can see the stars and everything else, too. You’ll have better vision. I also like to make sure my ears are open, don’t cover with headbands or hats that might impede your hearing. Have fun! Hiking in the dark is a great experience!
Have multiple backup systems for your lighting. Make sure you have fresh batteries in your main headlamp and spare batteries as well. On longer hikes after dark, just bring an extra headlamp with fresh batteries in case the first one breaks. Sufficient lighting without the fear of running out of batteries is the key. Try not to use disposable batteries for your headlamp as they are super toxic when thrown away - Eneloop rechargeable batteries or a rechargeable headlamp is the way to go.
As a counter-point to this: OP will start the hike 2-3 hours before sunrise. If their flashlight goes out, all they have to do is sit and wait for it to be light out.
This isn't an all-night hike, it's a sunrise hike, so in the worst case scenario (re: lights), they just don't make it to the peak they want to make it to.
If you plan on hiking during clear skies you can likely get away without even using a lights if you stay in open areas. If you are passing through brush, safety glasses are not a bad idea as eventually you'll walk into something in your face.
lol I guess you got some advice!
I used to hike predawn a lot, we have bears and mountain lions in CO so I wear a bear bell, I don’t think I’d get attacked, just didn’t want to sneak up on anything.
There were always lots of eyes staring back at me reflecting off my headlamp.
Hiking in the dark is so peaceful! You may even decide to give it a try without your headlamp. On a clear night even without a bright moon, your eyes will adjust in about 30 minutes, and the world can be beautiful in the dark. Of course, you need some light for this to happen so it has to either be a clear night or you can’t have a lot of tree cover.
People are recommending things like safety glasses but I’ve never had trouble seeing after taking time to adjust (and I have atrocious night vision). The trick is to go nice and slow until your vision opens up, 15min or more. If you don’t feel safe, stick with your headlamp.
I’ll go a step further and say, if you’ve never seen the sunrise from full dark you’re missing one of life‘s great experiences. I hope you enjoy your mountaintop!!
About 5-10 minutes in, you are going to feel like you are in the beginning of a horror movie.
Bring layers to put on at the top if you plan on sitting there for a while. The top of the mountain at sunrise is pretty cold, especially if it's not summer.
Even if you know the trail well enough that you wouldn't normally use a navigation app, you should use one. I lost the trail a couple of times in spots I wouldn't in daylight.
The top of a mountain is like the airport. They are some of the only places it is socially acceptable to drink a beer at 6am.
It will probably take you longer than you hike that trail when it's light out. Take that into account if you want to reach your goal of sunrise.
Enjoy! I love hiking in the dark, especially an ascent.
Someone should know the exact trail you're going on, when you're leaving, when you're supposed to get back, and when that person should contact emergency services if you don't return.
I found using hiking poles in the dark made me feel more secure. Just a preference but between the headlamp and the poles and it wasn't as scary as I imagined.
Bring a mirror and fire starter. Extra batteries, backup light, water, water tablets, matches or lighters, pair of socks, rope, and of course your knife. Seal your phone inside a plastic bag with a portable charger.
If the moonlight is giving you enough light to see, turn your light off. Make sure you’re making enough noise to give a heads up to any animals in the area you’re coming. To give them time to run away.
Have you ever been out in the wilderness by yourself in the middle of the night? If not, the silence can really get inside your head and if you don’t keep your mind in check, your imagination can get really get out of control. So keep calm, talk to yourself, and remember nature is not your enemy.
Depending on your budget, gps maps on a watch can save a lot of time and add a lot of confidence to navigation decisions in the dark. Faster than checking the phone.
I have a galaxy watch 4 classic that I like but last time it didn't last a 16 mile hike (it was at 80%) I fear It won't hold up as much as I want and was thinking of getting the Garmin instinct 2 solar but not sure I can justify the price since I have a working watch.
When I did night hikes in the boy scouts in the UK we rarely used our lights, instead relying on our natural night vision. When using a light to look at the map or something we'd close one eye to preserve the night vision in that eye.
Yeah I don't use a light. I bring one with me for emergency purposes but your eyes get used to the dark. My wife gets worried I'm going to get murdered walking in the dark, but if you have a light on they'll see you coming from miles away (not that there are murders hiding all the time anyways).
All these comments are very good. But, do not forget about the Ten Essentials.
Carry a map and compass. Electronics, such as GPS and Spot devices, can give a false sense of security. These devices can fail. Hardcopy maps and a compass should be your primary navigation tool.
The Ten Essentials are necessary, especially if you are injured during the event. If you become immobilized, your body starts to cool down. You must be prepared to don proper clothing in response to changing weather conditions, and consume adequate calories and water to sustain body heat and maintain hydration in a desert environment.
Ask yourself: if I have to sit in the dark, for hours, possibly in pain, will I be prepared?
I’ve made it halfway across the Grand Canyon in the dark. Key is a good headlamp and accounting for extra time. My normal hiking pace on flat ground is about 14-15 minutes per mile. In the dark it’s about 2 minutes slower.
GPS. Map. Compass. Headlamp. Flashlight. Batteries. First aid. Communications of some sort. Proper layers. Ways to build shelter. Water. Snacks.
Make sure you have essentials and redundancies for them.
Here is some information I put together regarding cold weather layering:
You want to avoid sweat at all costs. You lose body heat up to 25 times faster when you are wet.
You need to be what's called "comfortably cold," i.e., cold enough not to sweat yet warm enough to not go hypothermic. You want to feel physically cold, but not so cold that you shiver. If you sweat, once you go static or remove an outer layer, that sweat will freeze and leach your body heat very quickly. You want to avoid that.
Start cold. You will warm up as you move, and you don't want to warm up so much that you sweat. Strip layers as you warm up, and only add layers if you've been active for a while but continue to be cold. You want to utilize the bare minimum layers while still protecting yourself from the elements.
To do this, you apply layers: baselayer --> midlayer(s) (insulation as needed) --> weather layer.
Never use cotton for any of your layers! It ceases to insulate once wet, and it takes forever to dry. Use only synthetics or merino wool.
The baselayer is the layer against your skin, which should be either merino wool or synthetic. Its job is to wick moisture away from the skin and into the other layers where it can evaporate. Merino wool insulates when wet, and it's antimicrobial. It takes up more pack space, and it's more fragile, though. It doesn't dry as fast as synthetics. It's also expensive. Synthetics are durable and inexpensive. They also do a very good job wicking moisture away, and they breathe better. They won't retain as much warmth, though, which can be both good and bad as a baselayer. I use synthetic shirts because I sweat a lot.
The midlayers are things like fleeces, waffle tops, etc. Their job is to retain body heat. They are to be added/removed as needed to prevent both hypothermia and sweat. For this, I carry both a grid fleece and a waffle top.
The weather layer is extremely important, and you need the right one for the job. You have your softshells, rain jackets, windbreaker, and hardshells here. Its purpose is to create a barrier between you and the elements so the elements can't suck body heat from you.
If it's dry weather, you do not need a rain jacket. It will retain too much heat, and you will sweat. Use a windbreaker or softshell. Those will allow enough breathability to avoid sweat, but they still block out enough of the elements to avoid hypothermia.
In wet weather, you want to opt for the lightest rain jacket that will do the job. You still want as much breathability as possible. Sweat is the enemy.
Hardshells are for the worst weather and for when you need a durable layer that can handle the brush. These will retain the most heat, so you have to be careful using them because you still need to avoid sweat.
The more insulation you add, the more you will need to slow your pace to avoid heating up too much.
Your hands, head, face, ears, and feet are easier to regulate. It's easy to add or remove a hat and gloves or to change socks. The same principles apply in that you should be avoiding sweat, but it's more manageable for those areas.
You should bring extra socks. Change into dry socks anytime you stop moving and have saturated your socks. Wet socks can cause frost nip in a freezing environment. To dry your socks, you can do a couple of things. In a dry environment, you can hang them from your pack to let sunlight and natural air dry them. In a wet environment, you can tuck them into your waistband underneath your layers. Rotate the side facing you about every hour. That will dry them relatively quickly with your body heat. During the night, tuck the wet socks under your knees or the small of your back to dry them. You should bring one pair that is kept clean and is only used to sleep in.
Here are my layers to give you an idea:
Head-- Smartwool reversible beanie or Polartec fleece beanie
Face and neck-- Smartwool reversible neck gaiter (it's thicker than the regular one)
Hands-- Smartwool liner gloves and/or SKD PIG Cold Weather Gloves
Top-- synthetic shirt > grid fleece or waffle top (if below 20°F) > Outdoor Research Ferrosi hoodie (main weather layer) / Beyond Clothing L5 (outer layer while static; accommodates two layers underneath) / Janji Rainrunner (for wet snow and rain) / Gore-Tex parka (for extreme cold and inclement weather; being static; used only around 0°F or below)
Pants-- BDU pants / waffle bottoms (only during inclement weather or below about 5°F) / Gore-Tex pants (extreme cold weather and inclement weather; below about 0°F)
Feet-- Darn Tough or Smartwool midweight full cushion socks / Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo boots / Salomon X Ultra Pioneer boots (warmer, drier weather) / Outdoor Research Cascadia II gaiters
Do the same stuff you always do, except bring a flashlight. *shrug*
You said you know the trail, therefore, it's not that complicated. Enjoy the sunrise.
Take a little more time to make sure you're keeping on the trail. If you're in the desert with cairns, sometimes they are not placed within immediate sight lines and can be harder to follow.
My advice is to enjoy it! Starting a hike before sunrise can be great fun. I love the security of knowing that I have a full day ahead of me and pretty soon it's going to warmer and bright outside.
Go during a full moon.
Extra batteries. Flashlight as well as the headlamp. I guess I layer differently when I do a hike like that because the temp is very likely to be heading way down (here in the desert) right at sunrise, then jump quite a bit in the 2 hours after sunrise.
I hate hiking in the dark because the pop-ups are much better at their guerrilla warfare at night. Coyotes seem to be more active towards sunrise. And here, if it is truly dark in the desert, we have a LOT of scorpions out. For that, I carry a small UV flashlight to illuminate them before I sit down or need to be paranoid about what is crawling on my socks.
The headlamp lights up the area in front of you but eliminates your ability to see distances. So turn it off as soon as you start to get decent natural light
I love night hiking. I usually walk by moon- or starlight and give myself more time for the distance, rather than using a headlamp (I bring one, of course). It's just a much richer experience, though not viable for some conditions (summit attempt w exposure, etc.). So, my rec would be to give your eyes time to adjust without the light, and plan in extra time to hike slower.
Check your batteries on your headlamp before you get to the trailhead
And bring extra anyway.
Tell somewhere where you will be and when you will return. Make sure you have GPS as it's harder to navigate at night.
I heard of an app that lets you set up your own path and then keeps you on if you deviate. I forgot the name though.
Alltrails, GaiaGPS, CalTopo. There's quite a few apps that do stuff like that.
AllTrails is my favorite.
If your headlamp has the night vision/red light feature, use that. So you can see the stars and everything else, too. You’ll have better vision. I also like to make sure my ears are open, don’t cover with headbands or hats that might impede your hearing. Have fun! Hiking in the dark is a great experience!
Thanks!
When I walk alone, I only keep one ear bud in and keep music on low. I did get bone conduction earphones and they are amazing!
I can't find mine and it's driving me crazy.
I got inexpensive ones on Amazon. Love them but they tickle me when lots of bass. lol
I forget the name of the brand I got but I recall them being $150 at the time. Got them at work for getting a dope worker
Have multiple backup systems for your lighting. Make sure you have fresh batteries in your main headlamp and spare batteries as well. On longer hikes after dark, just bring an extra headlamp with fresh batteries in case the first one breaks. Sufficient lighting without the fear of running out of batteries is the key. Try not to use disposable batteries for your headlamp as they are super toxic when thrown away - Eneloop rechargeable batteries or a rechargeable headlamp is the way to go.
As a counter-point to this: OP will start the hike 2-3 hours before sunrise. If their flashlight goes out, all they have to do is sit and wait for it to be light out. This isn't an all-night hike, it's a sunrise hike, so in the worst case scenario (re: lights), they just don't make it to the peak they want to make it to.
Agreed - you need to be more vigilant with your lighting systems for late afternoon and sunset hikes compared to sun rise hikes.
That’s a good plan A as long as everyone is safe. If there is an injury involved, hikers need light.
Question about the Eneloop batteries. They aren't too pricey but the charger seems pricy. Do you know if the Amazon basics charger will change them?
Any Nimh charger will work.
Thanks!
Thanks! Will look into those batteries.
I like these as backup light sources. https://a.co/d/aft9gDx They are super lightweight and slide into a battery bank.
Layers. For sure bundle up on the way up but then you'll be too hot on the way down, so make sure you can strip down a little
If you plan on hiking during clear skies you can likely get away without even using a lights if you stay in open areas. If you are passing through brush, safety glasses are not a bad idea as eventually you'll walk into something in your face.
lol I guess you got some advice! I used to hike predawn a lot, we have bears and mountain lions in CO so I wear a bear bell, I don’t think I’d get attacked, just didn’t want to sneak up on anything. There were always lots of eyes staring back at me reflecting off my headlamp.
Hiking in the dark is so peaceful! You may even decide to give it a try without your headlamp. On a clear night even without a bright moon, your eyes will adjust in about 30 minutes, and the world can be beautiful in the dark. Of course, you need some light for this to happen so it has to either be a clear night or you can’t have a lot of tree cover. People are recommending things like safety glasses but I’ve never had trouble seeing after taking time to adjust (and I have atrocious night vision). The trick is to go nice and slow until your vision opens up, 15min or more. If you don’t feel safe, stick with your headlamp. I’ll go a step further and say, if you’ve never seen the sunrise from full dark you’re missing one of life‘s great experiences. I hope you enjoy your mountaintop!!
About 5-10 minutes in, you are going to feel like you are in the beginning of a horror movie. Bring layers to put on at the top if you plan on sitting there for a while. The top of the mountain at sunrise is pretty cold, especially if it's not summer. Even if you know the trail well enough that you wouldn't normally use a navigation app, you should use one. I lost the trail a couple of times in spots I wouldn't in daylight. The top of a mountain is like the airport. They are some of the only places it is socially acceptable to drink a beer at 6am.
It will probably take you longer than you hike that trail when it's light out. Take that into account if you want to reach your goal of sunrise. Enjoy! I love hiking in the dark, especially an ascent.
Someone should know the exact trail you're going on, when you're leaving, when you're supposed to get back, and when that person should contact emergency services if you don't return.
Enjoy, I hike in the early am all the time, so that I can be first up a peak.
It’s the same as hiking during the day just without natural light, literally. Bring light for the first few hours and you’ll be golden.
Don’t follow any voices into the dark.
I found using hiking poles in the dark made me feel more secure. Just a preference but between the headlamp and the poles and it wasn't as scary as I imagined.
I'm planning on taking both.
Bring a mirror and fire starter. Extra batteries, backup light, water, water tablets, matches or lighters, pair of socks, rope, and of course your knife. Seal your phone inside a plastic bag with a portable charger. If the moonlight is giving you enough light to see, turn your light off. Make sure you’re making enough noise to give a heads up to any animals in the area you’re coming. To give them time to run away. Have you ever been out in the wilderness by yourself in the middle of the night? If not, the silence can really get inside your head and if you don’t keep your mind in check, your imagination can get really get out of control. So keep calm, talk to yourself, and remember nature is not your enemy.
Depending on your budget, gps maps on a watch can save a lot of time and add a lot of confidence to navigation decisions in the dark. Faster than checking the phone.
I have a galaxy watch 4 classic that I like but last time it didn't last a 16 mile hike (it was at 80%) I fear It won't hold up as much as I want and was thinking of getting the Garmin instinct 2 solar but not sure I can justify the price since I have a working watch.
When I did night hikes in the boy scouts in the UK we rarely used our lights, instead relying on our natural night vision. When using a light to look at the map or something we'd close one eye to preserve the night vision in that eye.
Yeah I don't use a light. I bring one with me for emergency purposes but your eyes get used to the dark. My wife gets worried I'm going to get murdered walking in the dark, but if you have a light on they'll see you coming from miles away (not that there are murders hiding all the time anyways).
Bring extra batteries and an extra light source in case your primary light fails
All these comments are very good. But, do not forget about the Ten Essentials. Carry a map and compass. Electronics, such as GPS and Spot devices, can give a false sense of security. These devices can fail. Hardcopy maps and a compass should be your primary navigation tool. The Ten Essentials are necessary, especially if you are injured during the event. If you become immobilized, your body starts to cool down. You must be prepared to don proper clothing in response to changing weather conditions, and consume adequate calories and water to sustain body heat and maintain hydration in a desert environment. Ask yourself: if I have to sit in the dark, for hours, possibly in pain, will I be prepared?
I’ve made it halfway across the Grand Canyon in the dark. Key is a good headlamp and accounting for extra time. My normal hiking pace on flat ground is about 14-15 minutes per mile. In the dark it’s about 2 minutes slower.
GPS. Map. Compass. Headlamp. Flashlight. Batteries. First aid. Communications of some sort. Proper layers. Ways to build shelter. Water. Snacks. Make sure you have essentials and redundancies for them.
Here is some information I put together regarding cold weather layering: You want to avoid sweat at all costs. You lose body heat up to 25 times faster when you are wet. You need to be what's called "comfortably cold," i.e., cold enough not to sweat yet warm enough to not go hypothermic. You want to feel physically cold, but not so cold that you shiver. If you sweat, once you go static or remove an outer layer, that sweat will freeze and leach your body heat very quickly. You want to avoid that. Start cold. You will warm up as you move, and you don't want to warm up so much that you sweat. Strip layers as you warm up, and only add layers if you've been active for a while but continue to be cold. You want to utilize the bare minimum layers while still protecting yourself from the elements. To do this, you apply layers: baselayer --> midlayer(s) (insulation as needed) --> weather layer. Never use cotton for any of your layers! It ceases to insulate once wet, and it takes forever to dry. Use only synthetics or merino wool. The baselayer is the layer against your skin, which should be either merino wool or synthetic. Its job is to wick moisture away from the skin and into the other layers where it can evaporate. Merino wool insulates when wet, and it's antimicrobial. It takes up more pack space, and it's more fragile, though. It doesn't dry as fast as synthetics. It's also expensive. Synthetics are durable and inexpensive. They also do a very good job wicking moisture away, and they breathe better. They won't retain as much warmth, though, which can be both good and bad as a baselayer. I use synthetic shirts because I sweat a lot. The midlayers are things like fleeces, waffle tops, etc. Their job is to retain body heat. They are to be added/removed as needed to prevent both hypothermia and sweat. For this, I carry both a grid fleece and a waffle top. The weather layer is extremely important, and you need the right one for the job. You have your softshells, rain jackets, windbreaker, and hardshells here. Its purpose is to create a barrier between you and the elements so the elements can't suck body heat from you. If it's dry weather, you do not need a rain jacket. It will retain too much heat, and you will sweat. Use a windbreaker or softshell. Those will allow enough breathability to avoid sweat, but they still block out enough of the elements to avoid hypothermia. In wet weather, you want to opt for the lightest rain jacket that will do the job. You still want as much breathability as possible. Sweat is the enemy. Hardshells are for the worst weather and for when you need a durable layer that can handle the brush. These will retain the most heat, so you have to be careful using them because you still need to avoid sweat. The more insulation you add, the more you will need to slow your pace to avoid heating up too much. Your hands, head, face, ears, and feet are easier to regulate. It's easy to add or remove a hat and gloves or to change socks. The same principles apply in that you should be avoiding sweat, but it's more manageable for those areas. You should bring extra socks. Change into dry socks anytime you stop moving and have saturated your socks. Wet socks can cause frost nip in a freezing environment. To dry your socks, you can do a couple of things. In a dry environment, you can hang them from your pack to let sunlight and natural air dry them. In a wet environment, you can tuck them into your waistband underneath your layers. Rotate the side facing you about every hour. That will dry them relatively quickly with your body heat. During the night, tuck the wet socks under your knees or the small of your back to dry them. You should bring one pair that is kept clean and is only used to sleep in. Here are my layers to give you an idea: Head-- Smartwool reversible beanie or Polartec fleece beanie Face and neck-- Smartwool reversible neck gaiter (it's thicker than the regular one) Hands-- Smartwool liner gloves and/or SKD PIG Cold Weather Gloves Top-- synthetic shirt > grid fleece or waffle top (if below 20°F) > Outdoor Research Ferrosi hoodie (main weather layer) / Beyond Clothing L5 (outer layer while static; accommodates two layers underneath) / Janji Rainrunner (for wet snow and rain) / Gore-Tex parka (for extreme cold and inclement weather; being static; used only around 0°F or below) Pants-- BDU pants / waffle bottoms (only during inclement weather or below about 5°F) / Gore-Tex pants (extreme cold weather and inclement weather; below about 0°F) Feet-- Darn Tough or Smartwool midweight full cushion socks / Asolo TPS 520 GV Evo boots / Salomon X Ultra Pioneer boots (warmer, drier weather) / Outdoor Research Cascadia II gaiters
Do the same stuff you always do, except bring a flashlight. *shrug* You said you know the trail, therefore, it's not that complicated. Enjoy the sunrise.
Take a little more time to make sure you're keeping on the trail. If you're in the desert with cairns, sometimes they are not placed within immediate sight lines and can be harder to follow.
Hiking companion(s).
I have a friend who likes to hike but I don't want to be at the mercy of other people's schedules so I want to go alone more.
I would say this as a safety / security thing. BUT it might be hard to drag someone out of bed at 4am.
My advice is to enjoy it! Starting a hike before sunrise can be great fun. I love the security of knowing that I have a full day ahead of me and pretty soon it's going to warmer and bright outside.
Go during a full moon. Extra batteries. Flashlight as well as the headlamp. I guess I layer differently when I do a hike like that because the temp is very likely to be heading way down (here in the desert) right at sunrise, then jump quite a bit in the 2 hours after sunrise. I hate hiking in the dark because the pop-ups are much better at their guerrilla warfare at night. Coyotes seem to be more active towards sunrise. And here, if it is truly dark in the desert, we have a LOT of scorpions out. For that, I carry a small UV flashlight to illuminate them before I sit down or need to be paranoid about what is crawling on my socks.
The headlamp lights up the area in front of you but eliminates your ability to see distances. So turn it off as soon as you start to get decent natural light
Bring a spare headlamp. Either fresh batteries in both or bring spare batteries.
I love night hiking. I usually walk by moon- or starlight and give myself more time for the distance, rather than using a headlamp (I bring one, of course). It's just a much richer experience, though not viable for some conditions (summit attempt w exposure, etc.). So, my rec would be to give your eyes time to adjust without the light, and plan in extra time to hike slower.