100-plus degrees? 80 percent humidity? And a “feels like” rating of Phoenix?
Certainly doesn’t inspire thoughts of a day on the trail. A long day, at least.
That’s why this time of year we pull out our Summer Shorts: hikes long enough to sate your thirst for trail, but short enough to prevent heatstroke.
I used to love hiking in summer heat. The past couple years, though, not so much. Coming into this summer I got to wondering why.
As we’ve settled in to summer’s steady drumbeat of 90/90 — temperature/humidity — days, I’ve been trying to sort out what I don’t like about summer hiking, as well as what keeps me on the trail. The latter first.
It wasn’t even a blisteringly hot day, It was April, temperature in the upper 70s under clear skies. Dry, clear skies. Perfect day for a hike. Yet I was nearing the end of a 14-mile outing that included a relentless 5-mile climb to start and a knee-punishing 3-mile descent near the end. I was pooped, and while the last mile back to the car was a mellow downhill, I needed refreshing. I needed the clear, cold waters of Basin Creek. I pulled off my hiking shoes and socks, rolled up my pant legs and dipped in up to the knees.
We’re looking at our first 90-degree weekend of the year and it’s only mid-Spring! If you’re like us, your hiking hormones have only recently become activated. And since there’s no harnessing an unleashed hormone, there’s no sense canceling your hiking plans for the weekend. You just need to alter them a wee bit.
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.
