Growing up in Scotland, my early forays into hiking and mountaineering were daytime pursuits. We’d head out after a good breakfast, hit the trail by mid-morning and get home around dinner time. Often, blustery conditions in the early hours would blow out by 9 a.m., the sun emerge and this strategy worked well.
When I moved to the Rocky Mountains in 2009, however, my adventures moved up in elevation, and it was suddenly a different story. A lot of my mountain escapades involved myself and a fellow waitress bringing our hiking boots to the restaurant where we worked, driving to her place after our shift for a few hours sleep, then getting up at 5 a.m. to hike a 14er. For longer hikes, I’d get used to pitching my tent at the trailhead so I could set off even earlier.
