Lessons from Grandpa

The kids grandpa came with us on a hike this week. It was a night hike and we did a bit of off-trailing trekking to visit a tree felled by beavers. He hung in there really well but the kids were a little unsteady. They kept asking to borrow my headlamp and I kept reminding them that they have their own headlamps in their hiking packs, which they didn't want to carry because they were too heavy. (At 4, 6 and 7, we let them off the hook for night hikes, especially on school nights.) Instead they trudged along, shining their lights uselessly into the sky and our eyes, complaining the whole way.

Honestly, it was a great hike. Someday they'll listen a little more and learn to use their lights effectively. Until then, a bunch of our dads went out a bought some of those huge 10 gazillion candle power lanterns. It's almost comical.

Papa went out today and bought headlamps for all the kids in the group to put in their 'haversacks". Then he started telling stories as he helped his grandkids take off the packaging, put in the batteries and test them out. He told them they should always bring their lights, whistle lanyards and water with them on every hike, especially when it's dark and they're tired.

He was a Scoutmaster for a little while in his younger years, but he is very subtle about passing along his wisdom. He picks his times perfectly - when they're asking and are ready to listen.

As the kids rushed off to find their hiking packs, he sat there smiling, and I remembered all the stories he told me growing up. He sparked my imagination and my common sense and it's fun to watch him do the same with this next generation!

It's wonderful to watch as children learn from grandparents and other senior adults around them.

My father and then my scout master taught me something that I find is almost a lost art: seeing in the dark. I hadn't thought about it until reading your post.

The human eye is an amazing tool, if we'll just let it adapt to the dark. Except on the darkest nights, hiking at night is easy. Sure there are times and locations it can be dangerous and lights would be required.

Back in the spring I canoed the Kings River in Arkansas -- at night. We NEVER turned on a light until we opened the truck doors after the float ended after six hours on the river. We didn't launch until after sunset. Not being able to see in the standard sense certainly heightened the other senses -- especially hearing.

A few years ago as a chaperone on a fifth-grade overnight trip to a natural science center, the staff took the students on a flashlightless night hike. A couple of the children were absolutely hysterical because the lights were off. They had NEVER been outside in the dark and were absolutely petrified. They could not overcome what the adults around them had taught them: dark = danger.

I"m not saying to not have lights. But the size, long-lasting LEDs, and utility design have made using lights at night easy -- even when it's not necessary.

A good Grandpa is worth a lot. Mine taught me a couple valuable things:

1. Kraft cheese spread with pimento goes great on Saltines with vienna sausages on the side when you're out fishing.

2. How to drive in his 1956 Chrysler Imperial. He was a semi-truck driver and hated to drive on the weekends when he was home. So I was his 14 year old chauffeur.

I think being afraid or at least sceptical about the dark is integrated into our genes. Of course, having not-overly-outdoors oriented parents isn't exactly helpful.

I love relying on dark adapted eyes, using no light or as little light as possible. Why almost every single light out there must start with the brightest setting is beyond me. Start out very dim, add more light as required makes a lot more sense when your eyes are adapted or semi-adapted to the dark.

Mine was bread and butter pickles with cheesewhiz on ritz crackers. Still my favourite fishing snack. Reminds me of my grandpa.

i never thought of it but that's a good point. i do rely more on my own nightvision when practical, so typically i either have the light on right away or don't use it at all. if i need to turn my light on to find something i close one eye to keep it adjusted.
i think the best would be to have separate switches for high and low settings, rather than clicking through one at a time. or you could always use a red filter.

and i totally agree about the fear of the dark being instinctve. we can't see nearly as well in the dark as the nocturnal predators that would harm us, so we're naturally wary of dark places. it's all about self-preservation.

My experience hiking at night is that it is best to use low levels of light if at all possible. If you take time to let your eyes adapt to the dark, you can hike very well by moonlight.Hiking at night, you are using your eyes, and also your feet, if you are following a trail. Your feet provide very different feedback when you walk off a switchback or otherwise get off trail

Oh, almost forgot the most important thing: Bacpacjac, thanks for sharing this story. This is exactly the kind of inspiration we need if we are to be successful conveying our love for the outdoors to the next generation. As a dad for two small kids, this is a topic that is dear to my heart.


As for the lights... I find "always-start-on-low" lights very useful. In particular the quark kind of lights, where the low actually is low enough to be useful with dark adapted eyes. Doing as little damage as possible to my night vision - that is something that is very useful. A zebralight illuminating something more than 3 foot away has some of the same effect. I've clipped these little buggers to my waist with great success - just enough light to avoid stumbling, just little enough to let my night vision see the large scale contours of the land.

Ever since I played with night-time orienteering as a boy scout I've loved fumbling around in the dark. With lights on and off.

My pleasure MostlyHarmless. Sounds like we're cut from the same cloth. I want my kids to love the outdoors. My son would spend all day outside if we let him. Great start! He's got a lot to learn and the younger they are they more open they are to learning. It's not always easy to be patient enough to wait for them to be ready for the lesson, though.

We encourage the kids to use their lights as little as possible when we're out at night, and the lowest light, shone on the ground in front of their feet, when we go off-trail. Night vision is so important and so is working through that fear of the dark.

It's funny, my seven year old is fine in the forest at night, but has to have 3 lights on when he goes to bed at night!

[quote=bacpacjac]We encourage the kids to use their lights as little as possible when we're out at night, and the lowest light, shone on the ground in front of their feet, when we go off-trail. Night vision is so important and so is working through that fear of the dark.

It's funny, my seven year old is fine in the forest at night, but has to have 3 lights on when he goes to bed at night! [/quote

maybe there's a ghost in her bedroom.