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  1. #21
    Registered User Tuxhiker's Avatar
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    Mississippi sumertime heat plus humidity and horseflies is pretty miserable. I can only handle early morning hikes to a creek to cool off then back to car. I don't think any cooling shirts or gadgets would make much difference. One thing I do is freeze water bottle so I have cold water. Mostly I just use treadmill at home and imagine I'm hiking in the mountains! I'm craving a trip to the mountains! Darn that Covid!!

  2. #22
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    Most of my AT trips have been in the summer and all of them in the South. The difficulties of heat and humidity are largely offset by the good things - long days, ability to pack light (no extra clothing), the lush beauty of the season, and the magnificence of a breeze on high ridges and gaps. 4,000 feet seems to be the magic contour interval in Ga, NC, Tenn, and Virginia. Above that it's always comparatively pleasant. Below that can be stiflingly miserable.

  3. #23
    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
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    Embrace the suck mentality love it. And them cold mt sreams that are always cold or that swimming hole you come upon, true trail magic!

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    Hike in the early morning and early evening. Take the afternoon off - preferably at a pond or stream.
    Nailed it. Somewhere to take a dip, get cool and wash off the dirt is an afternoon well spent. Get up with the sun. Hike til it gets really hot. Dick around or nap until 5 or so. Hike til dark, or after. I've hiked until midnight many times when the heat was oppresive.

  5. #25
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    just went to the Smokies with a friend to help her finish them. It was 72-74 most days but humid, and we started at Clingman's SOBO. All I can say is, for once I was thankful for the reservation system as that kept our days at 12 miles or less.
    Tridavis

  6. #26
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    The biggest problem I have with heat is the first three days or so. Reading posts about hikers wanting to get into air-conditioned buildings makes me think that the biggest problem isn't so much the heat they are hiking in, but rather the air conditioning they are coming from?

    For years I couldn't understand why restaurants kept their air conditioning so cold in the summers that I pretty much always take a fleece or puffy coat to dinner with me in the summer time and wear it to stay warm. Then, I figured out that, if most of their clientele live and work in air conditioned spaces, the restaurants probably aren't cold to them. So, the trick to hiking in the heat is to not live in air conditioning the rest of the time?
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  7. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by nsherry61 View Post
    So, the trick to hiking in the heat is to not live in air conditioning the rest of the time?
    I have found there's some truth to this. I will leave the AC off most of the time to encourage me to get outside more. Otherwise, it feels horrible heading outside on a hot and humid day

    Also, to add to what people say about hiking in the morning:
    I try my best to do big morning miles and get a big climb done. Then I can rest up and head downhill in the afternoon for awhile... hide out a bit more, then I'm ready for another evening run
    Doesn't always work out that way, but often enough

    I always have 2 light hiking shirts in the summer since I sweat a lot. I do the big climb, take off that disgusting shirt, squeeze it out or lay it on a rock, tie it to the back

  8. #28

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    I just got back from an 18 day backpacking trip in Snowbird wilderness in NC---most of it in July.

    I don't mind backpacking in the heat although I do hate being inside a tent on hot nights. One solution is to camp by a creek and get underwater frequently thereby lowering your core temps enough to "cool down the motherboard". Once out of the water this cool body can last a couple hours in camp. Wilderness creeks are Miss Nature's solution to furnace temps.

  9. #29
    Registered User The Cleaner's Avatar
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    After spending 30 years working outside year round, the last thing I want to do is sweat some more in my free time. I avoid the heat from late June till September. I did hike in the summer many years ago and agree with Tipi Walter that camping near a creek is one solution to cool down. Also just filling a water bag from a spring and just rinsing off with cold spring water at camp is nice too.
    Sleep on the ground, rise with the sun and hike with the wind....

  10. #30
    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    I just got back from an 18 day backpacking trip in Snowbird wilderness in NC---most of it in July.

    I don't mind backpacking in the heat although I do hate being inside a tent on hot nights. One solution is to camp by a creek and get underwater frequently thereby lowering your core temps enough to "cool down the motherboard". Once out of the water this cool body can last a couple hours in camp. Wilderness creeks are Miss Nature's solution to furnace temps.
    Still waiting for the trip report . I don't really mind hiking in the heat either .And like you said just laying around trying to sleep or relax in the heat sucks. And like you suggested and I supposed, a nice cold mountain stream ahhhh ..... sooo good, taking a dip and or soaking a bandana wrapped around the neck will absolutely make a significant difference in cooled body temp as well...

  11. #31
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    I don't mind the heat too much, but then I grew up in South Carolina. When I'm hiking during the day I usually wear a very thin, button up, long sleeve shirt. Over the years I have found I stay cooler. In the evenings I always take a sponge bath before going to sleep, even if I have to carry a little extra water to dry camp. I always use a light weight quilt in warm weather. I also try to set up camp where I have the most exposure to potential breezes without being right on top of a ridge. Honestly though, I head west to higher elevations for summer backpacking if possible.

  12. #32
    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
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    I've been thinking , yeah I know dangerous. Wouldn't it be COOL if someone invented the disposable cold pack? Similar to the hot hands but cold hands. Maybe something like liquid nitrogen filled pellets you shake or squeeze to activate. ( theatrically plausible)?
    Last edited by JNI64; 07-20-2020 at 07:32.

  13. #33
    Registered User Call me al's Avatar
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    Many great suggestions already posted. Put your work in as early as you can each day and take advantage of the cooler hours later in the day. And above everything else learn to listen to your body.

  14. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by Call me al View Post
    Many great suggestions already posted. Put your work in as early as you can each day and take advantage of the cooler hours later in the day. And above everything else learn to listen to your body.
    There's also another valid reason to starting hiking very early and call it quits by noon---pit viper activity. Copperheads and rattlesnakes like to sit in sunny patches on the trail most esp when temps are hot.

  15. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by JNI64 View Post
    I've been thinking , yeah I know dangerous. Wouldn't it be COOL if someone invented the disposable cold pack? Similar to the hot hands but cold hands. Maybe something like liquid nitrogen filled pellets you shake or squeeze to activate. ( theatrically plausible)?
    I'd give anything to have a portable "window fan" that didn't require batteries so I could put it at my tent door and sleep in a cool wind all night.

  16. #36

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    Go to a higher elevation with greater exposure and/or shadier trail.
    Night hike. Avoid hiking strenuously during the hottest part of the day.
    Stay hydrated. This begins before hitting a TH!
    Stay fueled. No energy roller coasting.
    Cooling foods and herbs - cucumbers, radishes, cilantro, greens, sprouts, raspberries, watermelon, strawberries, cherries, mangoes, lemon, lemon balm, red hibiscus, cardamon, mint - foods with higher moisture content which equals eating some of your water needs rather than drinking it. If rose hips are available squish some into water. Avoid warming foods like cayenne or curries.
    Light apparel colors loosely wrapping up exposed skin. Cover up. Ventible hat.
    Pace slower. Rest. Go to a lighter wt TPW.
    Sleep higher.

    Slow down the mind.
    Last edited by Dogwood; 08-13-2020 at 22:35.

  17. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by JNI64 View Post
    I've been thinking , yeah I know dangerous. Wouldn't it be COOL if someone invented the disposable cold pack? Similar to the hot hands but cold hands. Maybe something like liquid nitrogen filled pellets you shake or squeeze to activate. ( theatrically plausible)?
    I've been a lurker here for quite a long time. Finally made an account to let you know this is a thing - those heat packs work via an exothermic chemical reaction. You can go the other way - getting cold - with an endothermic reaction. Look up 'instant ice pack' , or raid your first aid kit and see if you already have one.

  18. #38
    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eightyone View Post
    I've been a lurker here for quite a long time. Finally made an account to let you know this is a thing - those heat packs work via an exothermic chemical reaction. You can go the other way - getting cold - with an endothermic reaction. Look up 'instant ice pack' , or raid your first aid kit and see if you already have one.
    Huh, oh yeah ok I forgot all about those things. Thank you and to Whiteblaze! So I can stop working in my laboratory trying to invent one,Just kidding. I looked them up and the first one that came up was packs of 6 size 5×7 in and 1.92 lb for the 6. So wouldn't that feel awesome after a long day of hiking in the heat ? Get dinner done and camp chores done and finally get to lay down with a cold pack resting on the carotid artery delivering nice cool blood to the rest of your body . Might make for a better night sleep just like hot hands in the winter. Would anyone consider carrying these disposable ice packs if your section hike is going to be really hot?

  19. #39
    Registered User colorado_rob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JNI64 View Post
    hiking in and camping in the heat is my least favorite time out.... What's y'all's keeping cool methods?
    I guarantee you I'm the world's biggest heat-wimp, so basically I just can't do it (hike in the heat). I hiked the entire AT without ever touching the trail in the summer. So, easy solution here in the west, get high! My feet basically never touch a trail below 10,000' or so from mid June through mid-September.

    Cheap flights! C'mon out. My wife just round-tripped it out east to visit her daughter, $98 total, mostly empty planes and airports. She was very careful.

  20. #40
    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
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    Well that was my plan before the big C-word came around. I was planning on being out there to hike the collegiate west beginning of September. I was out there last labor day week spent a couple days at twin lakes and btw experienced record heat low 90's Denver was 100' . But i had to come back due to medical issue, come to find out it was fluid on the heart . Had to spend a week resting kinda scary got lucky that's all it was.But anyway maybe next year will be the year for the collegiate and the maroon bells.

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