I posted this hike in the local meet-up group with a day's notice. It was Election Day and I wanted something to distract me. I wasn't expecting a big turn out, but four people showed up anyway. It turns out, no state results were final at the end of the day.
I started the hike at 4:30pm but was ten minutes late because on the day of the hike I kept thinking that I didn't need to leave the house until 4:30pm. I walked Wolfie and Gretchen until 4:05pm and then relaxed. What was I thinking? I darted out at 4:30pm with Hansel already in the truck waiting.
In the end all worked out because we were a group of strong hikers: Ellen and me, and newbies DennisK and Laurie. The first half of the hike was uphill, with a 1000' elevation gain, walking uphill along Miller Creek and then continuing up the Miller Canyon trail to Clark Springs. The higher we got on this loop, the quicker we could make it downhill after dark.
It wqas 68F at the start with no breeze. This is unusual for November, when cold winds blow off the peaks. Sunset was at 5:26pm and moon rise at 5:41pm. I wasn't too worried about where on the trail we would see the moon rise, as long as we were on the ridgeline descending as we had view of the moon the entire time.
Dennis is an amateur photographer and stopped plenty of times to take moon shots. My Pixel 6 is good in low light (one of many reasons I bought the Pixel) but dSLR photos are still better. The many stops allowed Laurie, who was very cautious walking on the rocky terrain once it got dark) to catch up with the rest of us.
Descending the ridgeline at night is no easy task. Strong light is required! I borrowed one of Ellen's bike lamps to navigate as my cellphone flashlight is not that powerful. I had left the light that SteveT had given me in the truck.
We were done within 2:30 hours. It was still very warm for a November evening, with little to no breeze.
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