On a tight schedule being my wife's birthday and all, I decided to go up Green Mountain again this weekend. I had never been up there for a sunset and I thought I could test out my LED Lenser headlamp on the hike back. Good thing I had it too because it was pitch black in the forest on the way back to my car. I would say overall it is a very good headlamp but not having used any other headlamps in the past I can't really say if it is better or worse than any of the others on the market.
Something funny happened on the hike up. Green Mountain is on DNR land and gets used by hikers, mountain bikers, atv riders, and horsemen. While I have mixed feelings about all of these groups, I still think its great that they all have a place to go. The horsemen are a funny lot to me and a lot of people have mixed feelings about them as well. Some dislike the wear and tear horses put on the trails not to mention all the horse crap they leave. I kind of like to hike on horse trails though because horses, unlike people can't climb over a downed tree on the trail so you will usually never see downed trees, limbs etc on horse trails.
Anyhow about the funny story. I stepped off the trail a few times to let some horse folks go by. In the first group the lead rider said I spooked her horse a little bit as I came up on them. I thought that was all well and good and wondered to myself what would happen if she came upon a bear or something while out in the woods. In the next group a young lady looked at my trekking poles and asked with all sincerity if I was practicing for cross country skiing! It never ceases to amaze me the variety of people that use Green Mountain and the huge disconnect that each group has with the next.
