Durrance Lake night hike 27/25 weeks

The only picture of the two of us that came out...Mark thinks it perfectly sums up our adventure.

We had such a busy weekend planned that our hiking time has been seriously compromised for our 27th outing. Mark and I hosted a massage booth at the 2010 Pridefest and we knew that would have us gone all day. I was invited by Mark on a date night to watch the third Twilight movie; Eclipse on Saturday night and I wasn't going to let hiking interfere with that. We decided to try something different and go on a night hike.

We chose the path around Durrance Lake because it is close to our home and a short hike. If you remember the blog from week 9, the Durrance Lake loop is half woods and half lake path. We began at the trail into the woods as it was getting darker fast and we wanted the most level portion to be the part in complete darkness.

Let me start by saying that I have a very vivid imagination. I have read all of Stephen King's novels and I have seen many, many scary movies. I can not say that I recommend a night in the dark woods after seeing a vampire/werewolf film. I had a flashlight but in a lot of ways that just made it worse. I kept asking myself what I would do if a person, monster or thing loomed into the light of my lamp. This is not a good place for the mind to go in the dark. I kept fighting down the urge to completely run into the opposite direction.

This is the view from the dam on the south side of the lake.

In fact, the only two things that kept me from bolting was the dark terrain and my fear of falling coupled with the amount of teasing and laughter I would have to endure from Mark. I simply reminded myself that this was my idea and swallowed the ball of fear that kept creeping into my throat whenever I came upon a darker curve.
The path seemed so different from our last visit because we were moving in the opposite direction so I was always questioning whether we were terribly lost in the dark.
At one point we heard a huge crash in the brush. Despite the fact that our dog was not concerned in the least, I made Mark walk in front of me. At least he would block the imminent appearance of a woodland monster from my view.
Would I recommend a night hike? You bet ya. It really got my blood going and pushed me straight out of my comfort zone which is something I really need these days. If you decide to try one choose a path that is somewhat level to avoid injury. Also choose a path that you know fairly well. In the dark it will morph into a completely different place but hopefully you will be comforted by some familiar terrain.
Sorry about the lack of decent photos. This night hike thing is new to me. Actually I cant wait to do this again. Perhaps I'll schedule one after I see the new Harry Potter film.

Eerie...