Trees - Optical Illusion

K

kcollings

Registered Member
I have an odd question. Two weeks ago I was hiking in the mountains. I stopped for a minute to rest and when I looked across at one of the other tall, tree covered mountains it "appeared" to be getting farther away from me or shrinking back. Last weekend I went on a similar hike with my son, but hadn't said anything about what I experienced the week before. Half way through our hike he noticed the same thing and mentioned it to me. The first hike was rainy off and on. The second hike was overcast and sprinkled a little bit. I thought maybe the moisture in the air could have something to do with it. I feel kind of silly asking about this, but I've been very curious. Any ideas?
 
not to sure, but could be something with the water, you know water changes light waves. As well as heat waves, change light waves, maybe a mix of both.
 
You have just had a long steady hike, your eyes concentrating on the ground ahead of you, which is steadily coming towards you. Then you stop look up at the mountains. If one stares consistently at movement in a particular direction for even a short time, subsequently viewed stationary scenes briefly appear to move in the opposite direction. This phenomenon was known to the Ancient Greeks. The 'motion after-effect' can be explained by adaptation in visual neurones that respond selectively to moving contours in the image.
 
i experience this when stopping after driving for a while. thanks for the reason blindman. rather ironic coming from you really.

:)
 
If you look at the clouds on a sunny day you can see them as if they are floating higher and moving up away from you.

Its just to do with the focus on your eyes. It may be as blindman said.
As Anon say', after walking, hiking or any movement for a long period of time especially in an upland area pressure builds up in your head and sometimes legs.

This is due to you blood pressure rising as you heart pumps faster and harder to get oxygen around your body. This could cause you to feel dizzy have a head ache, have your sight become poorer (in terms of focus and clarity) and in extreme cases temp. blindness.
 
what Blindman said. I notice this often while I'm hiking. The trees are moving!!!11one.


:D enjoy your wilderness time with your son! One of the best activities to do, IMO.
 
I think it is funny that "blindman" told you what you were seeing. I love irony.
 
what is a real problem is, when i get up, and stretch, i lose my vision for about 45 seconds. also, when i sprint over a long distance i lose the ability to see. low blood pressure is a bitch :p
 
Blindman said:
You have just had a long steady hike, your eyes concentrating on the ground ahead of you, which is steadily coming towards you. Then you stop look up at the mountains. If one stares consistently at movement in a particular direction for even a short time, subsequently viewed stationary scenes briefly appear to move in the opposite direction. This phenomenon was known to the Ancient Greeks. The 'motion after-effect' can be explained by adaptation in visual neurones that respond selectively to moving contours in the image.
Click to expand...

Thanks Blindman. It was kind of a strange mystery and I'm glad you made some sense of it for me.
 
that's a good point. after hiking for a while, I know that I smell bad enough to make even the Rockies flee!
 
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