The less-unphysical Caltech grad students used to go hiking in the mountains around the Los Angeles basin, to get exercise and escape the smog. Some were rather serious about it and soon grew bored with racing up the Mount Wilson trail (five miles each way, a mile of elevation gain). They proposed a night climb of San Antonio Mountain, a.k.a. "Mount Baldy", one of the highest peaks in southern California. (Baldy is visible from Pasadena on an exceptionally low-opacity-atmosphere day). A few new kids, yours truly included, went along to be sociable.
The organizers (CMC, RF, et al.) chose a cloud-free night with a last quarter moon, which provided good post-midnight illumination. A dozen of us piled into cars late one spring evening and rode an hour-plus east to the trail base. Those who had brought flashlights found them unnecessary once everyone's eyes became dark-adapted. The walk up was straightforward, if a bit steep in places. Some helpful souls had installed steel cables between posts alongside the path in the trickier spots, and we clung to them.
Even with the moon in the sky, stars shone brilliantly. We must have been lucky (or have picked a night during a meteor shower) because we saw at least a dozen bright meteors streak by during the climb. The air was cool but exertion kept us warm — until we reached the top. There, of course, the view was stunning, the wind blew unobstructed, and we shivered. A circle of boulders gave not even the illusion of shelter. We huddled and waited. Finally the sun rose, thawed our spirits, and we shuffled down to the cars and thence home to bed.
Wednesday, January 12, 2000 at 08:48:43 (EST) = 2000-01-12
(correlates: EndlessStairmaster, HistoricTexasDessert, QuietingReflex, ...)