I woke up Wednesday at 5:30, took Dog #1 out, checked the weather.
60 degrees!
I knew it was supposed to cool off this week, but 60? I couldn’t remember the last time it had been so cool in this summer of record heat. A good two months, at least.
A spirit-lifting temperature, but still shy of my fall benchmark. Then, an hour later I took out Dog #2 (she likes to sleep in) and it was 58. Within a half hour it would drop another degree, to 57.
We get out a lot. We’ve been getting out a lot for more than 30 years. During that time we’ve learned a thing or two. Nothing revolutionary, nothing that’s radically changed the sport. But maybe something you’ll find helpful, something you didn’t know that might help next time you’re on the trail. Something that will shorten your learning curve — though the learning never stops.
Note: The following is a tweaked re-run of a post that originally appeared in July 2022. With the current heat it’s even more relevant today than it was when it originally appeared.
Tuesday afternoon I was driving back from a meeting in Oxford when I made a detour in Stem. Specifically, to the Tar River Land Conservancy’s Ledge Creek Forest Conservation Area. It was 98 degrees, with a Heat Index of 105, no one’s idea of ideal hiking conditions. Yet once I got under the canopy, the heat became less of an issue.
We were sitting around what would have been a campfire had it not been 85 degrees, when one of the hikers asked, “How does tomorrow’s hike compare to today’s?”
It was asked with a hint of trepidation. “Today’s” hike — a 6.6-mile out-and-back with just 1,000 feet of elevation gain — was supposed to be the easy one, the warm-up for tomorrow’s 14-miler, which gained nearly 2,400 feet in 4.3 miles. Yet today’s hike had kicked our butts.
Granted, we ran a version of this blog in April, but with the appearance of The Heat Dome and the possibility of temperatures topping 100 in the region this weekend, it seemed appropriate to repeat the high points. Starting with …
Don’t hesitate to adjust your plans based on the forecast. For instance, GetBackpacking! was scheduled to do the 35-mile Virginia Triple Crown loop this weekend. The four-day trip takes a high route, largely sticking to ridges.
