Posted on: Friday, September 24, 2004

Night hikes show whole other world

By Julie Sheer
Los Angeles Times

Scott Scott doesn't believe darkness should get in the way of a good hike. "I think a moonrise is just as spectacular as a sunrise," says the Palm Springs, Calif., guide, who starts hiking at dusk at this time of year.

Folks who live near in more northerly latitudes enjoy extra-late sunsets, but it's dark by 7 p.m. in Hawai'i and most other states. But shorter days don't have to mean shorter time outdoors.

On full moon nights, you can ride, hike, surf or kayak — often without a flashlight. Nighttime adventures are quieter and cooler, and wildlife is active.

Hiking at night "changes your perspective," says Scott, chief guide and co-owner of Desert Safari/Trail Discovery Guide Service. You may not be able to see as much, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, says Scott. The darkness allows you to focus and "concentrate more on the experience."

"Your senses are heightened because you're not relying on sight as much," says Scott, who leads monthly full-moon hikes in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains when triple-digit summer temperatures plummet. Nighttime coolness also increases the chances of seeing nocturnal creatures such as kangaroo rats, bats and occasionally nighthawks.

Big moons offer interesting eye candy, like moonshadows playing light tricks on canyon walls or the shimmer of light on a serene ocean bay.

For nighttime outings, there's usually plenty of light two nights before and two nights after a full moon, says Tony Cook, astronomical observer at the Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

To make the most of a full moon, pinpoint the hours of sunrise and sunset as well as moonrise and moonset. Get a year's worth of such data for your city at aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.html.

Moonrises make for dramatic photographs, says Jim Belsley, an amateur shooter who recently led a full moon Meet and Shoot hike at Castro Crest in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Belsley gives himself a time frame of about an hour. Using a tripod, he starts shooting about 30 minutes before sunset and continues until 30 minutes after.

"You get that sky getting darker, which is bringing out the moon, while still getting enough light for interesting trees or rocks in the foreground," he says.

Humans aren't the only creatures stirred by moonlight. Birds and sea lions on Mission Bay are most active at dusk, says Charlton DuRant, manager of Aqua Adventures in San Diego, who leads after-hours kayak trips. You'll see a "dramatic change in human wildlife behavior," he says, as boat traffic and noise levels diminish.

Wherever you live, a show of a different type can be seen at night from a kayak on the ocean, says DuRant, in the form of bioluminescence, which occurs when certain ocean organisms produce light. A worm called Odontosyllis enopla produces a green glow during mating rituals every two weeks between July and October in Mission Bay during the first and last quarters of the moon, says Michael Latz of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., near San Diego.

Of course, it'll be dark, meaning it's tougher to see and a bit easier to get lost. Evening adventurers should always carry a flashlight in their packs. And nighttime trekkers should bring plenty of water.

Mountain bikers should bring "anything you'd bring for a daytime ride, plus lights," says Paul Marusich, an interpretive ranger at McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Fountain Hills, Ariz., west of Phoenix. Maricopa County sponsors a moonlight mountain bike ride on full-moon nights.