It's just a phase...

"The moon is a sphere that travels once around Earth every 27.3 days. It also takes about 27 days for the moon to rotate on its axis. So, the moon always shows us the same face; there is no single "dark side" of the moon. As the moon revolves around Earth, it is illuminated from varying angles by the sun — what we see when we look at the moon is reflected sunlight. On average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, which means sometimes it rises during daylight and other times at night.

"At new moon, the moon is between Earth and the sun, so that the side of the moon facing toward us receives no direct sunlight, and is lit only by dim sunlight reflected from Earth.

"A few days later, as the moon moves around Earth, the side we can see gradually becomes more illuminated by direct sunlight. This thin sliver is called the waxing crescent.

"A week after the new moon, the moon is 90 degrees away from the sun in the sky and is half-illuminated from our point of view — what we call first quarter because it is about a quarter of the way around Earth.

"A few days later, the area of illumination continues to increase. More than half of the moon's face appears to be getting sunlight. This phase is called a waxing gibbous moon.

"When the moon has moved 180 degrees from its new moon position, the sun, Earth and the moon form a line. The moon’s disk is as close as it can be to being fully illuminated by the sun, so this is called full moon.

"Next, the moon moves until more than half of its face appears to be getting sunlight, but the amount is decreasing. This is the waning gibbous phase.

"Days later, the moon has moved another quarter of the way around Earth, to the third quarter position. The sun's light is now shining on the other half of the visible face of the moon.

"Next, the moon moves into the waning crescent phase as less than half of its face appears to be getting sunlight, and the amount is decreasing.

"Finally, the moon moves back to its new moon starting position. Because the moon’s orbit is not exactly in the same plane as Earth’s orbit around the sun, they rarely are perfectly aligned. Usually the moon passes above or below the sun from our vantage point, but occasionally it passes right in front of the sun, and we get an eclipse of the sun.

"Each full moon is calculated to occur at an exact moment, which may or may not be near the time the moon rises where you are. So when a full moon rises, it’s typically doing so some hours before or after the actual time when it’s technically full, but a casual skywatcher won’t notice the difference. In fact, the moon will often look roughly the same on two consecutive nights surrounding the full moon.

Source: Space.com

Anyway, we'll be out moonbathing on a trail with open space and no obstructions.

WHAT TO EXPECT

6pm Arrive at destination
6:30pm Begin trip
7:30pm Arrive at midpoint
8p Return to start point
9:30p Conclude trip

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

This trip is included at no additional charge when you get your Season Pass or Annual Membership!
This trip is ideal for BEGINNERS and happens rain, shine or clouds. See How We Rate Trips.
Borrow a fleece blanket or a flashlight for this trip - for free!
Never been hiking with us? Catch up with #whatyoumissed.
Roundtrip shuttle available. 2% of your shuttle reservation will go towards supporting The Sharing Outdoor Spaces Fund.

Before you go, review the below:

Pickup times and locations for roundtrip transportation sent via email after you've booked your trip.

TRIP DETAILS (I.E. TIME, DATE, DESCRIPTIONS) POSTED HERE ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE FOR ANY REASON. Details regarding your trip will be emailed to you after you book.