Night Hiking

I prefer night hiking with my light off. Once your eyes adjust  you still have a panoramic view .  Compared to hiking with a light on, where you have a narrow beam of  light and  all you  see is what's illuminated by the beam. Walking on a snow-covered Trail makes it easier to see in the dark because the snow reflects the ambient light. When I'm walking in point position I keep my light on full bright so I don't miss a trail Blaze or a hidden switch back. If I don't feel like leading, I fall back and follow the other hikers tracks in the snow. In the dark we rely more heavily on verbal cues. If the point person doesn't see a trail blaze in a tenth of a mile they holler back I'm off ,does anyone see the blaze. Then you see headlamps behind you scanning the area. When someone hollers I have a blaze I'm on the trail, all the headlamps focus on that point and follow like ducklings. Mark's hiking group chooses Point position by default. If you know the group's destination, and you feel like taking a lead position we follow. If you're tired and step to the side, the next person in line becomes the leader. Our group totaled seven, hiking from shackham pond to tinker Falls.when I'm leading the group on a night hike and I turn around and see a line of headlamps behind me it gives me a warm feeling of being an essential part of a group