"This is backwards," I thought. It was the end of the day, not the beginning. It was a weekday, not a weekend.

Yet, I was hiking.

In late March, I traveled to southern New Jersey to celebrate Passover with my family and decided to join members of AMC's Delaware Valley Chapter for one of their nighttime hikes. I figured it would be a good opportunity to spice up my hiking life. My hiking routine generally goes like this: On a Friday or Saturday night, I prepare a lunch, pack my daypack, and spend a quiet evening at home. I wake up early the next morning so that I will be in the White Mountains before 10 a.m. I'll take my hike and return to the trailhead by 4 p.m., grab an early dinner in a nearby town, and be back in the Boston area by 8 p.m.

LEARN MORE
For a complete list of upcoming moonlight hikes (as well as paddles and bike trips), visit trips.outdoors.org and enter keyword "moon." See how other AMC hikers spice up their hikes here.

That Thursday hike I took at Valley Forge National Historical Park certainly was not routine. As I began, I found myself walking toward a sun that approached the horizon. While I hiked through the park, the site of the Continental Army's encampment in the winter of 1777–78 during the American Revolution, the daylight slowly diminished.

As I enjoyed the traverse along the park's paths, dusk settled in. The darkening sky added an element of mystery that is missing from a day hike. The pack of people hiking in front of and behind me took on a unique form—shadowy figures who appeared to be farther away than they actually were.

I continued to wind my way through the park, and dusk turned to night. Off in the distance, I could see several deer roaming through the open fields, while other animals were making sounds I had never heard on a day hike: Foxes screamed, owls trilled, and spring peepers whistled. The National Memorial Arch, erected to commemorate the arrival of George Washington and his soldiers, basked in the glow of artificial light.

In looking for something different to do on my trip, I had stumbled upon a way of hiking that many AMC members and other outdoors enthusiasts enjoy. Night hiking appeals to some as an occasional break from their routine, while others make it a regular practice to stroll beneath the full moon or the stars. With only a little more attention to safety than is needed during the day, night hiking can be a great way to bring new perspective to trails that are familiar and to learn about other aspects of the natural world, such as the evening activities of animals and the location of the constellations.

My trip to Valley Forge offered only a taste of what people do to experience night hiking. One weekend a month, Peter Jarrett of the Delaware Valley Chapter leads a full moon hike at the Pinnacle, considered by many to be one of the finest places to hike in Pennsylvania. Usually held on the Saturday closest to the full moon, the hike begins while the sun is still shining; when the group reaches the summit, the sun is just about to set. Everybody sits down and takes in the view as the sun sinks behind the horizon and the moon rises. Once night has fully set in, the group will turn on their headlamps, depending on the time of year and conditions, and return to the trailhead via a fire lane.

"It's beautiful," says Buddy White, a member of the Delaware Valley Chapter. "The sun sets and sometimes a big orange moon comes up over the mountains. It's so pretty. When the trees don't have leaves, on a clear night, you can go back down without using a flashlight, it's so bright."

AMC's Worcester Chapter also leads full moon hikes, at a variety of locations that include Mount Wachusett and Purgatory Chasm State Reservation. Rob Trotte, who has led full moon hikes at Wachusett, enjoys the sense of remoteness that night hiking can offer.

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