What kind of HEAT will you hike in?

“The Dolly Sods this year broke 100 while we were out there, and in those open meadows, it's difficult to find some shade.

Forutnately though, we finished our hike before noon, and ducked out of the xtreme heat for the afternoon under the shade of camp.

I've camped in temps as low as -30F; a little chilly, but when dressed right it's not so bad. New York summers might be not-so-grossly-hot, but the winters are brutal up there.

To those of you still grossed out by the concept of a pee bottle, try spending the night at 30 below and then tell me you haven't reconsidered...”

“I don't like heat & humidity at all. It's just too gross in the Midwest when the mosquito swarms land on you and can't take off again because they are stuck to your sweaty skin. The coldest camp-out we ever did was about five below zero, and that was kind of uncomfortable too. My favorite temp range would be about 40-70 degrees F.”

“Worked in 106* weather yesterday...makes those 80 degree Sierra days seem quite pleasant!”

“WindWalker must work in the same furnace that i do.
it was 42*C at work tonight. that's about 107F i think. a little bit too warm for me - even my shins were sweating.
i'm starting to fantasize about all that ice & snow i was complaining about 6 months ago”

“my range is about 10-75 i cant handle the heat and along with the heat comes the bugs-took a short hike the other day and got creamed by the deer flies-cant wait for fall-”

“I may hike in temps up to and around 75, but don't like to go much higher than that. It also depends if the trail has tree coverage for shade. The more shade, the higher the temps I would hike in.

Nigal, I just came back from a trip to NY and took my chi Capri. It was 80-95 degrees!!! I sunned in the yard at 85 degrees and totally wet Capri down with cool water. She will go in the shade if she gets hot, but even 85 in the shade it's hot, especially when a dog has a black coat.”

“Nigal,

P.S. - That's a cute pic of Honey!!!!”

“Rarely will I hike in heat. Occasionally I succumb but don't like it much. I DO like to canoe in hot weather. Portages are OK.”

“I spent the summer of 1983 in the Sultanate of Oman with typical nighttime lows of 105 degrees and typical daily highs of 125-128 degrees and my job involved much walking up and down sand dunes or across barren rock fields while toting heavy equipment

its not out of the question even for an

'overfed, longhaired leaping gnome'

like me from North America.

There are wells scattered thruout that area with camels lingering around them so the wells can be spotted from a distance (but of course many liter bottles were in hand or pack each morning) and once you fill the camel's water buckets, they allow you to drink for yourself.
last edited: 7/14/05 9:17:30 PM”

“Was on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia many years ago. The climb up from Indian Grave Gap to the summit of Rocky Mountain. Horrible. Horrible. I still get sick thinking about it. Temperatures were in the high 90s, with hideous humidity. That climb is relentless, or seemed to be in that unbearable heat. And I'm a Georgia native--so I know heat/humidity misery. We were literally getting sick from that one. Man, I was never so glad to see the top of a ridge in my life.”

“Tourist dies hiking in hot weather at Canyon

Associated Press
Jul. 14, 2005 01:10 PM

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK - A hiker from England collapsed and died as he was attempting to hike out of the Grand Canyon in 113-degree heat.

Avik Chakravarty, 28, and another hiker had started a 17-mile hike to the bottom of the canyon and back early Wednesday. They reached Phantom Ranch at the canyon's bottom in late afternoon and were advised by a ranger not to begin their climb out until later because of the high heat, said park spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge.

They headed out anyway, and Chakravarty collapsed about three miles from Phantom Ranch. His companion hiked another two miles to reach rangers at Indian Garden, but by the time they reached Chakravarty, he had died, Oltrogge said.

An autopsy was being performed, but he was believed to have died of a heat-related illness.”

“Pretty careful with heat here, it's ugly.”

“One of my first backpacking trips was to the big tree in Sipsey....we took Bunyan Hill Road...it was hot...no shade and blowdowns everywhere....spent alot of time crawling over and under blow down..( those who know me, know crawling over is rough because I am so darn short)....soooooo hot..I was drenched in sweat....got to camp...set up my tent, stripped off clothes and took a nap....when we got home the next day we heard that the high the day we hiked in, was 96 degrees....”

“I hike in Djibouti some. Some of us will usually do about ten miles. It commonly over 140 degrees and very humid.

CONSTANT water intake is a must. You must add a little salt to help your body retain the water.

Check out the entirety of the Djibouti thread for pictures...”

“I like the daytime temp. to be lower than 70 degrees, hopefully with a breeze or steady wind. Humidity sucks, so when ever I get to heaven, heck, hell, or limbo, wherever, I'm gonna hava serious sitdown with The Creator of the Universe about his blasted humidity.
The hottest I hiked in was about 105-108 degree air temp., with humidity. The coldest hike was in -25F degrees.

Between the extremes, I'll take the harsh cold any day over the brutal heat and humidity.

I won't hike, in weather temps. above 88-90 degrees or so, depending on wind, humidity, and availbiliy of water, and the occasional situation where one has to hike in heat for a safety reason.”

“That is canoe and kayak weather!!!!!!

oh wait......anytime is kayak and canoe weather..!!!”

“Backpacked in 90 degree heat last weekend and looking at doing 97 degree heat this weekend. Just remind myself to keep up on drinking water and it will all be fine.”