Last night we planned to catch sunset on a local trail, however, I could not remember if I had turned off the oven before we left. We had to turn back around and the delay left us approximately ZERO minutes of to spare. (The stove was in fact OFF) The hike itself is not long, slightly over a mile, however, it’s a pretty steep (to me) ascent at the last quarter mile-ish. We had to hustle to make it up in time for sunset and so we did. With seconds to spare.

One aspect of watching sunset on the top of the hill is that there is very limited light on the trail back down. And it is rooty. I have a comical fear of bears and haven’t received my bear horn yet….soon and very soon…..so this meant not only hiking with headlamps for the first time, but overcoming my fear of surprising a bear on the trail. (Honestly, I talk so much, no one is surprised we are coming down the trail, but again……a comical fear, but fear nonetheless. And there ARE bears, so it’s not irrational). We lamped up and headed down, with Bandit in the lead—glowing eyes and reflective harness bopping down the trail.

I honestly felt ok. Mostly because the Hubs kept me chatting and my mind was occupied. It was so peaceful in the dark and the cool air, no ambient noise or light—just us and the early evening trail.

The roots are no joke, so we went slow and steady. A great first effort. We are talking about a sunrise hike in the next week or two so this helps me to be less anxious about that and more excited to experience another dark hike with a gorgeous gift at the top. This hiking can be some addictive stuff.

Peace.