Dear Cross:

I noticed two nude hikers coming in just as we leaving. Perhaps you were one of them? Was it you who had the piece of white paper in hand? (Directions perhaps?). I was on the rocks across from the Arizona pool - the one closest to the creek on the upstream end.

Hiking out at night in the summer is really pleasant. The air is cooler and everything is pretty quiet. Your mind does play tricks on you though, but I think mostly because of lack of experience. Once you are used to the route it I think it becomes easier. Being alone I started to think about possible threats. Rattle snakes, mountain lions and misplaced footing leading to injury were the ones I came up with. But, they are mostly misplaced worries. Rattle snakes can still be seen well after the sun goes down if you are watching, and where I grew up, poisonous snakes are a constant worry, so I am always vigilant. Can't do much about mountain lions except hope that they think I am too big for a meal. (The person who picked me up mentioned they had had some mountain lion sightings in Arrowhead lately) Misplaced footing was the most consistent problem. I almost got my headlamp out, but once you do that, your eyes adjust only to what you can see in the headlamp and there was still a lot of ambient light around so I wanted to be able to see peripherally. By the time I got back to the car at 9:10pm it was pretty hard to see the ups and downs on the trail.

If hiking out at night is necessary to enjoy the stillness of DCHS on a summer evening, it is no price at all to pay.