Night hiking is a genuinely different experience to walking in daylight. The obvious difference is visibility, but the less obvious ones matter just as much: navigation becomes harder, pace drops significantly, temperature falls, and the consequences of a wrong turn are more serious. Getting the preparation right makes the difference between an enjoyable experience and a problem.
Head Torch Selection
A head torch is not optional and a phone torch is not adequate for anything beyond a short walk near a camp. For night walking, you want a head torch with at least 200 lumens and a beam that can reach far enough to see track features and potential hazards ahead. A red light mode is useful for preserving night vision and not blinding people around you.
Know the Track Before Dark
Walking a track for the first time at night is significantly harder than it sounds. Navigation features that are obvious in daylight, a junction, a creek crossing, a track marker on a tree, are easy to miss with a head torch. The best approach for night hiking is to use a track you already know, or to walk the first section during daylight and continue after dark on familiar ground.
Pace and Timing
Night walking is slower than day walking, typically 30 to 40 percent slower on uneven terrain. Build this into your planning. If you are planning to arrive at a destination by a certain time, work backwards from that time using a reduced pace estimate. Running out of light is one problem. Arriving at camp at midnight because you underestimated the time is another.
Temperature Drops
Temperatures fall significantly after dark, even on warm days. In the mountains, the temperature difference between noon and 2am can be 15 degrees or more. Pack appropriately for the coldest point of the night you expect to be out, not for the conditions when you leave. A warm layer and a rain jacket cover most situations.
Tell Someone Your Plans
Leaving a trip intention is important for any remote walking, but particularly so for night walking. Include your planned route, start and finish location, expected return time, and who to call if you have not made contact by a set time. The consequences of something going wrong at night are compounded by the difficulty of locating someone in the dark.
