To everyone who has left comments on this hiking blog, thank you very much and please keep it up! This blog is not much more than a year old and I have not done much advertising, so the blog has not generated a whole lot of comments; therefore, I really do appreciate comments when they come — especially those long, thoughtful ones in which other hikers share their experiences at Radnor Lake and other natural hot spots.

Look for this blog to be much more active for the remainder of the summer. Until recently, I had not gotten out too much in 2009, and I am determined to make up for lost time with a lot of hiking and associated blogging about nature, Radnor Lake, hiking experiences, and so on — which will hopefully include some hiking with and blogging about Nashville’s wonderful Hiking Meetup Group.

Now to answer a question or two…

Dusk Hikes at Radnor Lake

The church parking lot (at Granny White and Otter Creek) is a lifesaver for the regular dusk hiker; however, it appears not very many people take advantage of it, though, and I am not sure exactly why this is. Perhaps most others are better at timing their dusk hikes than I am. I would not and cannot officially encourage folks to park at the church lot, for fear of raising the ire of the church folk there; however, there are hardly ever any other cars there, and I cannot see what harm it could possibly cause. So far there have been no problems in doing so.

In saying these things, I am NOT encouraging breaking Radnor Lake’s rules regarding its closing time at dark. I have discussed this with several park rangers over the years, and the general consensus is that “dark” means really dark: complete dark, not dusk. The park and its rangers are great about giving people plenty of time to return to their cars and leave the lot so they can close it around 30 minutes after sunset, which seems to be the best definition of dark that I have run across, and the definition of dark used by most avid hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts in my purview.

Like a cop pulling you over, whether or not you are cited for being at Radnor Lake after dark depends a great deal upon the personality and the mood of the ranger who sees you. Nine out of ten times they are very cool about it as long as you are not flagrantly violating the rules.

I have had only one bad experience with a Radnor Lake park ranger regarding being there too late, and it was certainly my fault. A female park ranger was quite unfriendly to me and said that she almost shot me; she gave me a very firm warning and also mentioned something about jail. But on that occasion, I’d lumbered out of the woods thirty minutes past complete dark, or an hour after sunset. I had completely lost track of time as I was experimenting with nighttime lightning photography at the spillway bridge.

I must say, it is a lot of fun — and sometimes creepy as hell, too — to hike at night when there is no full moon. But as this is NOT allowed at Radnor Lake, perhaps I will take Josh’s recommendation and do some late dusk / early night hiking at Percy Warner Park, where there is an excellent 4.5-mile loop connected to a 2.5-mile loop.

Parking at the church lot across Granny White simply takes a load off my mind during dusk hikes at Radnor Lake because it keeps me from feeling pressured to rush back. I do not like the feeling of being rushed on a hike, even though I am almost always back in plenty of time and rarely see the gates close. It is more of a psychological easement than a way to skirt Radnor Lake policy.

Guest Blogging at HikingNature.com

Most people do not seem to care for writing; however, there may be a few others out there — a few members of the Nashville Hiking Meetup Group or others, perhaps — who love to write about their hiking experiences and/or other naturalist themes. If you are so inclined, feel free to drop me a note. I would like to invite a few others to do some guest blogging here, and we can include your pictures/photos as well. Any guest blogging should match the overall theme of the site, obviously, and its tone and attitude as well. You can drop me a note at hikingnature@gmail.com or simply leave me a message by making a comment.

Happy hiking, everyone!

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