Half of the reason food should be tied securely out of the reach of wandering animals is just so we will sleep better. (I have yet to have an encounter with a wandering night critter, other than a fox screaming from in a Spruce Fir forest or a coyote sniffing around camp.)
I have heard a backpacker say they think nights are the best part of the wilderness experience, as forests become more beautiful at dusk, when songbirds's evening calls echo through the tall trees.
To get up in the middle of the night and see a sky full of stars looking like thousands of sand grains in a marble black sky fills a backpacker with awe and with gratitude, for having the health and the desire to venture out to such a place that few people see.
It usually only takes a day or two of active mountain days before you become so tired in the evening that you are looking forward to sunset so you can retire into the tent for some much needed sleep. You may find you are so tired that both your spirit and your feet are dragging at the end of the day (I noticed that at nearly 13000 feet that I was moving pretty slow towards evening, even at simple tasks like walking around camp to prepare dinner).
Be cautious about making sudden decisions when tired at the end of the day, like getting a notion to move camps. You will better handle whatever needs to be done in the morning after a good night's sleep.
Going to sleep early usually leaves you ready to get going in the morning just as the eastern sky is starting to show signs of day approaching.
I hike those many miles uphill and go to sleep early to experience sunny mornings in the high mountains, with nothing to do all day but explore peaks, canyons, and forests, to maybe walk along a ridgeline over a deep valley, or fish a clearwater lake for Cuthroat Trout, and perhaps take a few pictures for memories of what these mountain days are all about. Freedom, Adventure, and Beauty are words that describe such a day. May we all have more of them.
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