Hiking at Night

While darkness can add a degree of difficulty to navigating, there are many places where you would have to be completely blind to get lost, and even then you could probably feel your way.

Many walking tracks are easily followed by torchlight but I usually restrict hiking at night to places I have already been to in daylight. Some of the easiest tracks to follow at night are at Wilson's Promontory and above the tree line in the Alpine National Park (when there's no snow).

I usually restrict night hikes to 4 hours but that's usually enough to get somewhere interesting on the first night for a good sunrise.

Pros

• You can't see how steep the mountain is, you just keep walking.
• You get to see more animals at night than during the day.
• It's cooler walking.
• You don't need any sunscreen.
• There are no flies!!!
• There is usually less wind and it is oh so quiet.
• You learn to put your tent up anywhere, quickly.

Cons

• When your headlamp blows it's VERY dark. Always carry a spare globe and practise changing globes in the dark.
• There's no sun to maintain your sense of direction.