We had a pretty eventful night hike earlier. Before we even left our meeting place, which this week is at a log circle over near the trash cans, we saw some raccoons busy inspecting the dumpsters. Most of the kids had never seen raccoons before, so we all stood still and watched them. They watched us back for a bit and then made themselves scarce.
Later, after we had walked through the lower field and down into the woods, I had each kid follow the trail alone, with only a few candles to light the way. This is something we do every week, but tonight it was windy and rainy, causing the candles to flicker and go out. Most of the kids made it down the trail anyway. The last few people called out through the darkness, so I walked back up to light the candles for them. It turned out that this wasn't the problem. They had been calling because a group of coyotes had brushed past them in the dark, close enough to touch. This was confirmed by the cabin leader who was still with them. Not that I don't trust the kids, but I've had campers claim to see all manner of things out in the woods at night - dead people, guardian spirits, and who knows what else...
I wish I'd been there to see the coyotes. I did, later on, come across a couple of newts on the trail. The low clouds were reflecting enough light from the nearby cities to make the darkness somewhat less dark. There was even a newt perched on the edge of the cement wall bordering one side of the pond, as if contemplating a plunge.
As we returned to the school, the voices of frogs reached us from somewhere deep in the meadow.

Earlier, a Pacific Tree Frog posed for me.




So did a mushroom - possibly a Parrot Waxycap. Possibly not.