Probably the smallest group yet, met Tues night at the Bayers Lake Tim's,for the second full moon hike in March. We totalled five in all ( Bruce D. Gordon W. Bernie L. Norman S. & myself, as we drove together to the trail head. Norman still continues to extend his streak, of not missing a night hike, since it's inception back in June of 98.

At the trail head, up goes the trunk cover, (no light comes on), out come the hiking sticks, on go the packs, and we proceed to head off in the stillness of the night. Gordon without son Jeff along to carry the wood, attempted to carry it,himself. You could easily tell he was inexperience at this, as he accidently brushed Norm's pack, full of kindling, and dumped it all over the ground. Further along down the trail he upset his all over the rocks, filled with little puddles of water. I reached down and scouped up the paper, so it wouldn't get wet, and shoved it in my jacket pocket. Then on we proceeded, the full moon easily lit our way along the twisted trail, that ran by the ege of the bluff.

The night was still, no wind, no city noise, only the sound of feet scuffing & Duffy talking could be heard, as we trudged along without a care. The moon shown accross the Atlantic, like a ribbon of shimmering silver. One advantage of hiking in a small group, is that you can always be involved in the conversation, whether you know anything about what their talking about or not. Eg. like giving directions to the next hike.

We were only in one small patch of woods, on the whole trail, but that was enough time to get off the beaten path. Bernie got us back on course, so now it was time to pick a spot to camp down for awhile, by a nice warm, crackling fire. Somehow the paper I picked up, from Gordon's pack, must have got pulled from my pockets, during the woods area. But to no avail, Gordon had some toilet paper along with him, ( some hikers have to carry toilet paper along with them," I can never figure that one out.)

With the fire blazing, out come the hot dogs & marshmallows. This time I brought the hot dog sticks, I cut them from a White Pine I was trimming in my yard. Everyone was puzzled why the hot dogs tasted funny, it was like dipping them in turpentine, then holding them over the fire to roast. Needless to say I have now lost the job of bringing the hot dog sticks on future hikes. We finished off with some peanut butter cookies, and some luke warm tea that Linda made, I guess my daughter's school thermos has run it's course.

After resting for a bit, and indulging in conversation about upcoming hikes, it was time to douse the fire, and I won't elaborate on how I did that. Making it back to the car by 10pm., the only losers on this hike, were those who stayed home. Bruce D. announced that CAPE SPLIT will be the April night hike, this one, you won't want to miss, watching the sun set over the Bay of Fundy, then hiking back under the light of the Full April Moon.

PS. Gordon, I do have a light in my trunk, I found it this morning unplugged.

Wayne Banks, CMA.