Country Cat is so fired.

The first visit to the hipster restaurant "The Country Cat" was okay. Mediocre bloody Mary, but attentive service and pretty tasty food (lemon preserves in their hollandaise were unusual but very good.) Somewhat on the high end for prices, so I never went back. The second visit was awful.

Loni and I did our traditional pre-hike breakfast, and chose this place again as it was almost on the way. We had a tattooed waitress with reddish Betty Boop style hair who was...attentive, but colder than ice. It didn't seem very busy, but she seemed really put out when pressed to provide service.

It all started to go downhill when we asked for EXTRA SPICY bloody Marys. We got the same ones as last time, if not weaker. Also, the last time we were here, the waiter/bartender guy suggested the Indio wasabi vodka because we were discussing local liquor. Took a bottle of it to a little party, thinking it'd make an interesting addition to the mix. As it turned out upon sampling, this vodka bears more than a slight resemblance to diesel fuel. You could see what they were attempting with this blend, but they failed badly... Oh well, hopefully it got drunk eventually. The guy making this recommendation would probably be the same guy mixing your Mary.

Our entrees were the huevos rancheros. When you pop $11 for a plate of the absolute cheapest down home ranch food you can imagine, you'd expect a lot of food, right? Or that it would be the most amazing plate of beans and eggs on tortillas you'd ever had, right?

Not so much, either way:

• Two tortillas.
  
• Two eggs, over-poached (sigh.)
  
• Some cheese.
  
• A smattering of beans.
  
• An ocean of mediocre green sauce.
  
• Some mediocre salsa.
  
• A dollop of sour cream.

I just priced this out, and the actual food cost of our meal was approx. $0.92 per plate. I just spent an extra $10 a plate for the vibe of having brunch in a stupid hipster cafe for an unsatisfying meal with an irritated waitress? That's one strike for the price, one strike for the food, one strike for the service. I don't even have a strike left for the drink.

Okay, that's as mean as I can be to this place. It'll succeed anyway. We need more breakfast places in this town.




Below is rambling, for my future reference. I'm just saving my thoughts on this visit, and it is pure blahblahblah. You should run away before your brain dissolves into the vapid essence of "my theory of what happens to restaurants", part one million.

I figure what happened is this: someone had an idea for a nightclub and breakfast cafe that was cool. Really cool. Awesome decor, awesome space, awesome staff. Everything would set the right mood, and be attended to so that everyone was happy. Drinks, food, music, it would have it all!

They pulled it off. It's called the Doug Fir.

Everyone else has been distant second comers for that competition, unfortunately. D.F.'s got a hotel on site, the best location close to both hipster SE and downtown, and they've been up for a while and getting better (fortunately!)

The Country Cat seems like a D.F. that could have been. It feels like it's getting burnt out and overloaded. They've lost the attention to detail that make a place stand out. It's attracted all the wrong folks (me and mine), real people, who aren't awesome! We're not the hung-over hedonist hipsters holding down semi-grown-up jobs who spend slightly too much money who frequent the night life part of this restaurant scene. We're just good food people, and normal folks, and neighborhood locals. On the menu, you make like your food is the bomb. But it's not. It's just fairly well executed regular food on a larger and faster production scale. For the prices, I could be eating at Francis or Genies or the Doug Fir or even Screen Door!
They all do it better and they're all bigger operations! I'm not sure what the Country Cat folks pay in rent, being that close to Stark's finest oddball storefront set. Tan-n'-tub (Your [sic] going the wrong way!), Foam Products, Ya Hala (my mind has a conscious association Ya Hala=Good), and a farmer's market. Maybe some of their food is from there? I can only hope...

I feel the same way about the Screen Door as I do about the Doug Fir. They've been up for a while, and they keep getting better! How is this possible? They get more expensive, but not really, and not by much more than the rest... I just have to give props to the places that make it, and that stay true to their food. It makes me want to eat out ALL THE TIME, just to see what'll come up as a special on the chalk board.

Francis also goes in this category. Their message is something like this: "You can always come for standard breakfast fare! Our specials are very well constructed. Eggs, good bacon, excellent breads, potatoes, pancakes, french toast, etc. But today only, you can try *THIS*!" Usually it's amazing. At Screen Door, it's always a meat or seafood dish, rarely anything vegetarian unless it's on their small plate list. Their breakfast standard fare involves fried chicken and waffles, which is AWESOME, just don't even think about going up Hamilton Mountain at speed if you eat the whole thing. I wanted to vomit several times during the ascent, and may have suffered minor strokes during the hike due to congealing fat in my brain.

It took, literally, half a bottle of weirdly watered-down Tabasco to bring the bloody Mary at Country Cat up to snuff. We even had to ASK for the Tabasco, like they were surprised it wasn't spicy enough... Their Mary has beef jerky on the skewer with a non-pitted olive and some sweet pickled green beans. Big deal. Save your jerky, pit your olive, and sweet has NO PLACE in a bloody Mary! Bring some HEAT, peeps! We ask for extra spicy, the appropriate response is "Would you like scalding, scorching, or face melting?" and that's it! Better yet, why don't you pit your olive and stuff it with an habanero, so you can shut up numb-skulls like me when we ask for it? Not too much to ask, I'd think, unless the rest of your clientele are completely wankers.

The best response I can think of from the house, when asked for a bloody Mary, Extra Spicy would be to offer the equivalent of a Salvador Molly's Great Ball o' Fire.

Those things are no joke, I ate the whole set of five with ALL the sauce at the old S.M. off Belmont only to find out the jerks had no film for their Polaroid camera. Later that night I felt like I was dying from the pain of the capsaicin-laced cheese passing through my body. I can handle one of these, no major problems. I even find it sort of exciting! No more than one, because that's when life gets all ugly. I'm pretty sure I was hallucinating for a bit after eating them.

Anyway, WAY too many words later, I arrive at this: Nobody makes a super-hot bloody Mary. I think it should be a mark of pride for a breakfast place to offer a superbly crafted and extremely remarkable Mary, virgin or otherwise that BRINGS THE HEAT. If nothing else, purchase a vial of Satan's Blood and throw a couple the drinks according to heat preference! My very first Genie's Bloody Extra Spicy was THAT HOT! Totally on fire in my mouth and brain, feeling awake and alive and fantastic. And on fire. Hot hot hot hot. Now, when you get a Genie's Bloody Extra Spicy you have to dump half a bottle of the Secret Aardvark sauce in 'em just to wake them up. Is that entirely me? I doubt it, I still have the same sensitivity to Tabasco I've always had. My spicy scale is still calibrated the same way. Maybe they aren't instilling their vodkas as long, or they aren't changing their peppers as often.

Bay Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant

Well, batting two for two today. I wanted to visit the Kalga Kafe for dinner tonite. I wanted to go vegetarian style to make up for all the meat I've been ingesting. As has been the case the last dozen times I've wanted to eat at the Kalga Cafe, the fates have intervened and they were closed. I made the mistake of settling for the Bay Leaf vegetarian restaurant just a few blocks further out Division.

If I were to review this on a five star scale, this is totally a one star dining experience.

-1/2 a star for making us wait to place our orders, not setting our places, and generally ignoring us.
-1/2 a star for the droning instrumental music typical of every Chinese place you've ever eaten in.
-1/2 a star for the decor. A couple of wall scrolls and bamboo plants aren't enough.
-1 star for the food, below.
-1/2 a star for getting my order wrong and also ignoring us some more during dinner.
-1/2 a star for generalized awkwardness due to the rotten handling of other diners during the checkout phase of the meal. Did I mention waiting and being ignored? Oh. Well, we did some more of that during this time period, too. It gave us a chance to catch up on recent happenings in our lives.
-1/2 a star for the prices being too high for generic Chinese food with no meat.

The 1 star this place got? Half of that that would be the tea. We got a small (really small) pot of Bai Mu Dan tea which was really good. The man making the tea did it with care and attention, which was pleasant to watch. The other half was that they had Lion's Mane mushroom on the menu with baby bok choi. It wasn't identifiable as Lion's Mane when it was battered and fried and slathered with sauce, but just to see the species mentioned reminded me that mushroom days are coming soon!

The food:
Satay Lion's Mane Mushrooms. It says it comes with garden greens, and I guess Baby Bok Choi qualifies. It is listed on the menu as spicy. I requested EXTRA spicy. I got NO spicy. Not even the most remote hint of heat. Like, this was as spicy as...milk? Or as fiery as...vanilla ice cream? Maybe it's as hot as...chicken? It was edible, sure. The baby bok choi is really delicious, and the presentation was interesting. Just, the mushrooms didn't even taste of mushrooms. Where are they getting lion's mane mushrooms this early in the year? Do they grow them commercially in this region? I want to know, because I'd do something TOTALLY different with them besides bread them and fry them. I really couldn't tell it was even mushrooms under the coating. It could have been orange chicken if they'd used a different sauce! It had no flavor whatsoever! Grrrr.

The mushroom dish came with some mixed rice. The rice was better than plain old white rice, and we'll leave it at that. To analyze it further would be somewhat like picking a scab.

The Mu Shu vegetables were just okay. As were the tortillas that we used to make our burritos. As was the plum sauce. The vegetables were really salty. They were also greasy, bland, and unremarkable. This dish was an almost-tasty waste of my time.

I had thought that the lack of cars in the parking lot was due to the health conscious clientele that would frequent a vegetarian Chinese restaurant. Alas, I think it's because this place is a barely adequate excuse for your standard Chinese hole-in-the-wall, with much higher prices and no meat in their dishes. I would think that in wanting to promote their meat-free cuisine, they would strive to produce excellent and memorable meals. Said meals would be best enjoyed in a discreetly attentive atmosphere with smiling and helpful service. At least my mediocre meal at Heidi's this morning had SOME service...

Pho Van 82nd

Another phenomenal meal on Saturday night. Pho Van on 82nd.

I had eaten here once before, right after moving to Portland. It was less refined than it is now, with bistro-style seating and a more..."Styrofoam box to go" sort of flavor. I had heard from the H-man that it was one of his favorite places to eat, so I had to give it a try again. I'd been hanging out with a seasoned food critic that day, and they agreed to give this place a thorough once-over for dinner.

On arrival, I notice that parking is awkward all the way around. Oh well. That's what I get for removing power steering from my truck... The front desk could be any asian restaurant anywhere. We were seated in a booth below some faux-rice-paper shades, which were actually grass-patterned plexiglass light covers. It was a good solution for lighting and made the whole place more pleasant. It's a rather open building with high ceilings and a semi-courtyard feel to everything. I liked that I couldn't hear any music playing, or if it was it was so non-offensive that I didn't notice it. Recently, my asian dining experiences have been made less pleasant due to the piercing drone of traditional instruments combined with the semi-nasal singing in languages I don't comprehend. All of this is usually played at too high a volume. Sometimes there will be a beautiful piece played, but that seems all too rare.

After poring over the menu, my dining companion and I decided to try the "7 Course Beef" in order to try a broad range of dishes at a reasonable price. The menu says it serves two, and it does, but these are not the sort of dish you can take home if you don't finish it all. I elected to get chrysanthemum tea in order to avoid caffeine that late in the day. It was aromatic and delicious, with a strong flavor of sticks.

Our seven course meal started with a salad. Oh, what a salad. Shredded Daikon, baby celery (I think?), onions, fried scallions, and succulent strips of beef. It had a slightly spicy vinegary dressing and the whole dish had tremendous depth of flavor. I could have eaten just a mountain of that salad for dinner and been extremely satisfied. There were puffed rice-crackers on the side, which added some different texture. I am so glad that I came back here, because they are only about 5 minutes from my work! Whoooooo!

Once we had killed the salad, the waitress started bringing out dish after dish of odd things:

• One plate of cooked cold vermicelli noodles, with some chopped green onion on top
  
• One plate of rice paper triangles
  
• A slotted ceramic tank of hot water to soften the rice paper
  
• A portable stove, with a bowl containing broth with scallions & other tasty things floating in it
  
• A plate of thinly sliced raw beef with onions and scallions sliced on top
  
• Little bowls of a bizarre and wonderful sauce
  
• A giant tray of fruits & vegetables & greens:
  
  
  • Spearmint
    
  • Cilantro
    
  • Lettuce
    
  • Small chilis
    
  • Lemon Balm (or a close asian relative...)
    
  • Bean Sprouts
    
  • Daikon
    
  • Carrot
    
  • Green apple
    
  • Pineapple
    
  • Cucumber

Our server referred to the whole shebang as the "Hot Pot" and once she had them all set up, we were walked through making our own rolls. Obviously a pro, she lit the stove and grabbed a rice paper triangle. Dunked it in the slotted ceramic hot-water holder and dropped it on a plate. She promptly grabbed some fruits and veggies from the plate, topped them with an assortment of greens, and threw some noodles on top. The water was boiling by this point, so she dumped the onions and scallions from on top of the beef into the pot. She gave it a minute or so to cook, and then grabbed a slice of the beef. I think these are the same little slices of beef that you get in your Pho. She cooked it to medium, about 10 seconds. Once the beef was cooked, she put it on top of the pile of veggies etc. and within seconds had a marvelously shaped roll. Unfortunately, it didn't end up on my plate but now I could a similar roll for my own. Which I did. Again, and again. After the beef was gone, we experimented with combinations of veggies and also grabbed the cooked scallions from the broth on the stove to add to the flavor.

The waitress showed up again, this time with a plate full of (suprise!) more beef.
Three different kinds of rolls, two of each style. Also, a mound of something resembling hamburger. They also included four more puffed rice crackers.
Two of the rolls were basically rolled up strips of beef, fried with different sauces or seasonings. The whole set were delicious and amazing to my mouth. I ate part of each as an ingredient in a roll to break up the meatiness of it. The third roll was basically the same components as the hamburger mound, but shaped and fried.

The water in the vase began to cool, so the rice papers weren't rolling as well. I finished this course by eating some of the remaining fruit.

Towards the end I was slowing down a bit, because all of the flavors (and all the meat) overload your brain. Fruit in a roll is brilliant and it was very novel for me. I also enjoyed the wide variety of greens. The variety of flavors I got to encounter in this dinner was astonishing and exciting for me.

I also ate here for lunch today. Pho #3. Fatty brisket, round steak, and flank.
Good, deep, savory broth. Not too broad a flavor profile, but it was still very tasty. My opinion of the meats wandered a bit, with the fatty brisket being more cow flavored bubblegum and the other two ranking right up there with the other meats I had on Saturday. Their vegetable plate for this soup isn't terribly generous. You get a handful of bean sprouts, a lime wedge, one medium branch of basil, and a couple slivers of jalapeno. I would have liked more chili to spice up the ocean of broth, but it all worked well together. $7.00 for a bowl of soup bigger than your head, plus $1.50 for a pot of chrysanthemum tea? Wow, now THAT'S a lunch!

Doug Fir Breakfast

Nommed at the Doug Fir for the second time Saturday morning. This will go down as one of my better recent breakfasts.

Decor: Think upscale vintage Denny's. Comfortable brown vinyl covered booths make for pleasant seating. The whole bank of windows allows a lot of natural light in, but there are some darker nooks towards the doors. The logs used in the construction make the whole arrangement seem rather homey without giving up any of their hipster cred.

The wait staff were pleasant and attentive, although I think the girls ought to be just a wee bit more conservative with their miniskirts. When you bend over to bus a table and I can tell what color underwear you have on (I hope they were flesh-colored...) that might be too short. Our waiter was a burly ex-skater with a surprisingly cultured demeanor who was really on top of things. Our coffee never got low, and we never felt pestered. The concept of leaving a wine bottle of water for the table to top up their glasses is interesting. Although, I think some of the clientèle might be too limp-wristed to lift a magnum safely...

The Doug Fir is known as an excellent venue for music shows, and it doesn't surprise me that they put on a decent mix for the morning crowd. No screamers, no drum'n'bass, no top-40 pop. Just a pleasant blend: some classic rock seasoned with both new and old indie rock.

I tried their bloody Mary, per my usual M.O., and was pleasantly surprised. My expectations for the restaurant bloody Mary were RUINED by a delicious fireball I was served at Genie's once upon a time. Since that pleasantly painful event I've been disappointed by every bloody Mary I've been served, even my return visits to the Genie's. Francis put up a good one for a bit, but has since returned to a mediocrity that is comparable to everywhere else. The Doug Fir Bloody is a horseradish spicy, with a seasoned-salt rim, and very very good olives. They put a lime on it, but I don't think it adds anything. It woke up my appetite something fierce.

Food was traditional breakfast fare. I had the Logger's Breakfast, with a chicken-fried steak and two eggs over medium. The eggs were just right. Their oven-roasted rosemary potatoes are excellent and well seasoned, but I don't really go for the breakfast spud these days for some reason. The chicken-fried steak was monumentally good. I was pleased that it was relatively small, versus the ones I've had previously that drooped off the side of the plate all the way around. It was perfectly fried, tender and moist on the inside. Not a hint of toughness anywhere. I also really liked their gravy. Very rich and deep flavor.

I got to try a couple bites of the Satyricon Scramble, and it was fantastic! It really smacks you around in the mouth, with some kalamata olives, feta cheese, and whole cloves of roasted garlic. Wow! I'll be going for this on the next visit, for sure. On the same topic, I guess Satyricon is back open again? Bizarre!

My first visit to the Doug Fir wasn't as memorable. I got the smoked salmon Benedict, and it was just okay. After this visit, I'm sure I'll be coming back more frequently. It's strange to me how few really good breakfast places Portland has. You'd think we could do better than Elmer's, right?

Grilling Pizza with Bob's Harem

I spent Friday night in the company of four lovely ladies that comprise exactly half of "Bob's Harem". We grilled pizzas at Kelly's house on her huge grill, using fresh ingredients and homemade pizza dough. Kelly found some pizza pans that work on the grill, even allowing you to shut the lid without removing the handles. We figured that out later, but it's still nice to know.

I attempted to make the Margarita pizza, but our pies were fairly small, so all of my cheese just made a puddle on top, despite my attempt to spread out the little bits of fresh mozzerella. I grilled my crust to a nice level of crispiness, and the tomatoes and basil blended well with the sauce (Boboli out of the bag.) Delicious. I grilled some of the leftover bell peppers and a few of the mushrooms to snack on after. We had multiple wines, and Cape Cod's made with orange Stoli and "light" cranberry juice.

At the end, we all got to play with some vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I guess I'm the Purple Pieman from this point forward.

High points:
Kelly setting off minor propane explosions. She didn't need those eyebrows anyway...
Calla charring the crust of her mountainous pie. Panic!
Emily snapping photos of everyone and everything.
Pam utterly failing to provoke, shock, or titillate during our impromptu "Would You Rather?" game.

There were some adorable hummingbirds in Kelly's backyard, and I'm borrowing her collection of classic arcade games to destroy my home productivity for a few days.

Summer is almost over, and this was a very pleasant way to spend one of the remaining evenings.

What goes up: Decending Dog Mtn. by headlamp.

I figured that the trail down would be easier than the climb, because I was planning to use my headlight. This was not the case. The 3.7 miles is longer than the ascent, so it's slightly less steep. I covered the longer distance in about the same time as I had spent hiking up. I was fairly well hydrated and calorified starting down the trail, but shaky and weak in all my major muscle groups. Adrenaline is a bitch like that. No slackpacker speedball this trip, just big ups and downs in series. Harsh!

Shortly after the split below the summit, I encountered an unknown number of deer, bouncing down all over the f'ing hill. The were crashing down the incredibly steep incline above and below my narrow little trail because I had startled them. I briefly considered reconfiguring my giant hiking stick as a spear (nice modular design), but I would not have been able to recover the pole had it somehow ended up downhill. It's too nice a pole for that. Plus I'd have died trying to carry a deer carcass by moonlight. I was already predigested muscle mush by this time anyway.

I didn't hit the switch on my lights until I hit the trees beyond the second exposed stretch, and I could have made it further if I hadn't been so anxious to be down. Once the lights were on, I really started to move, almost to a jog in a few places. It's too steep to break into a run, so jogging is more of a jarring quick-step that rattles your bones.

Mushrooms!

I found a cute little patch of puffball mushrooms on the trail about a third of the way down. My camera takes pretty good pictures close-up at night, seems to me.

My headlamp hustle started out good, making excellent time going down the trail. I could galumph like the ogre that I am rather than picking my stealthy way through the inky forest. Well, that's all great until your body gets all worked up again. Once I'd hoofed myself into a good lather, the area of gloom and murk around my headlight and flashlight was somewhat more interesting to my spastic little dark-fearing brain. So, if what is in front of you is good (light) what is behind must be bad (dark). Rather than run away from whatever evil wood-demons that were creeping up on me, I used my flashlight to scan the shrubbery for a while. Never saw a single damn critter the whole time! Grrr. You'd think there were armies of rodents fighting in the shrubbery for all the noise they made!

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks to headlights. Namely, my neck is sore, from swiveling my head back and forth for the whole stupid downhill. Once you turn on that damn light, you can't turn it off unless you want to stumble blindly in the dark for 30 minutes. I did supplement with an additional light source, but it wasn't really useful. I also did just fine with a flashlight without the light on my noggin. I will absolutely be purchasing a better flashlight in the VERY near future. I want a 9 LED tactical lights, powered by a stack of potent yet lightweight batteries. Also, I'm going to get some filters so I can switch back to night vision without the long wait.

I have this fantasy of putting a car battery in a backpack and wiring up a suit of LEDs all over my body, lighting up the forest as if I were god manifest. Maybe a big xenon bulb on my chest, Iron-man style. I'd be confident nothing would mess with me when I'm so bright I have to wear a welding helmet just to see the trail. The forest service planes would have to bomb me with water because of nearby greenery curling up and catching fire.

Even into today, I have sore feet, ankles, abs and ribs. I guess I could have gone slower on the descent and I'd never have felt a single ache, but I just flat wanted OFF that hill. Now I really can't understand how people run this mountain. Are they made of jerky or something? What do you do for knees after you come back down? I want to know, because mine are SERIOUSLY unhappy!

My opinion of Dog Mountain is that it's a nice walk by day. However, I recommend you do not bother with this hill at night. The cookie you get from this hike is small and dry and crumbly. Not much flavor. I always hate and suffer during my hikes, but almost always remember them very fondly the next day. This hike is not like that at all. My memory of this hike has a bitter taste and is rough to my brain like sandpaper. I've decided that there will be no more night hikes for a good long while until I can erase all the badness. I'll eventually polish this memory into a gleaming jewel of excitement. Hence this post: to remind myself why we do not do stupid things like hike hard hills in the dark.

Up, up, and AWAY!: Dog Mt. by dark, part 2

Terror - I need to look up some synonyms, or this will be a boring post.

I had plenty of courage at the bottom of this hill, while on the nice bright trail. I lost it all (and almost my sphincter control) the first time something scrambled away in the brush. This set the tone for the rest of the hike. I wanted to face my fear of darkness, and ended up facing fear itself. The woods in the dark really freaked me out more than I had expected.

I made it up the well-lit portion with no real difficulties, and got to see some really bizarre views of the river by night. Once into the more heavily forested portion of the trail my imagination began to run wild. I started to see people walking on the trail ahead, only to find that they were tricks of the moonlight. The wind was warm and gentle, despite constantly rattling the bones of the trees overhead. What breeze could be felt on the trail didn't cool me down at all but just sent chills down my back and made the rest of me feel clammy. I was completely amped up on adrenaline and sweating profusely.

My imagination also started messing with the sounds around me. Halfway through an especially dark portion of the trail, I heard the creepiest and most bone-chilling noise ever. Panic overrode almost all of my reason and I froze solid. This is obviously my full preparation for the fight or flight that normally follows. As it turns out, it was one of the straps on my backpack that had caught a branch. It's almost too bad it wasn't a monster, because I could probably have crushed it bare-handed with sheer ogre panic strength. I started walking much quieter and more deliberately so I could hear the forest better. It also helped me to avoid the hand-like branches that kept trying to remove my headlamp and poke out my eyes.

At this point I realized that the fear and adrenaline were making my body lie to my brain. On the blank canvas of darkness, my eyes and imagination were painting pictures of stalking creatures and other nocturnal horrors. However, I kept the reins tight and never lit the headlamp or flashlight. My ears heard stalking cats and boogymen coming out of every large patch of shadow. I got a grip on myself, mostly by whispering lies to my ego about being the most dangerous creature in the forest. Hah! I'd be lunch for a sneaky kitty, for sure.

Another difficulty I had also encountered on Angel's Rest: The moon is sometimes TOO bright! It puts everything into a high contrast and it overloads the cones and rods when you switch between the shadows and the exposed areas too often. I had the best times hiking when I could stay in the murky dark or the bright moonlight for longer periods to allow my vision to adjust. Right before the trail opened out onto the hillside, I had an owl launch from a tree just a few feet from my head. Once again, total body malfunction with sphincter control barely retained. Freezing up doesn't strike me as very helpful in these situations, but I can't figure out a conscious mechanism for controlling this reaction.

Here is the trip from the parking lot: I took the shorter and steeper trail towards the top. At the hard or harder fork, I went right so that I could hit the lookout point. It adds 0.4 miles, but is more open and less steep. Once the trails hit the second lookout point, I took the exposed route to the summit so I didn't have to hike the trees around the backside of the hill. It also saves 0.2 miles. However, this part of the trail has significant exposure and it was not at all lessened by the lower light levels. Exposure is still exposure and I could still see the tree line hundreds of feet down the slope where a body would fetch up if they tripped off the trail. I didn't get vertigo too bad this time, thanks to the addition of electrolytes and sugars to my drinking mixture. Plus, I don't think I had any adrenaline remaining in my glands by that point.

I sat at the top for about 30 minutes, staring at the river and Wind Mountain. Another 300 calories went down the hatch as fuel for the descent. A very slight mist began to coalesce in the air, more pronounced toward the river. It didn't affect my visibility, and it may have helped diffuse the moonlight. I finished my snack and checked in with my safety backup before starting back down the hill.

If you go: Be familiar with the trail. Imagine hiking it in the dark as you are climbing up the hill. It won't help once you are actually out there in the dark, but it's an interesting exercise regardless... All of the trails on the way up were well-maintained and pretty familiar to me since I've hiked this mountain a few times. There are a few slightly narrow parts where the big-leafed plants were trying to spread into my hiking space. The damp area right after the fork to "hard" is really dark, with lots of good bog noises to creep you out. This is the only spot where I considered using a light. Above all, don't panic. There isn't anywhere to run anyway.

This ascent was hard for me. I'm glad I made it without resorting to artificial light. I am also pleased I didn't have a panic attack, a heart attack, or loss of voluntary control over certain bodily functions. Despite my relative pleasure at the successful climb, I'm done with night hiking for a while. Probably a LONG while.

The descent will go up once I wrap up my current battle with the laundry monster.