The following originally appeared Aug. 9, 2018, under the title, “Making Sense of a Weather Forecast.” It appears again, tweaked a bit, because knowing the forecast going into fall is especially important, as we’ll start encountering cooler temperatures that will affect how we prepare for a hike, and thus, our safety.
Category Archives: Weather
Heat exhaustion: recognize, treat, prevent
The following is a post we rerun when the temperatures heat up and we’re suddenly, sometimes unexpectedly, at greater risk for heat exhaustion. It has been slightly tweaked from previous versions.
With temperatures possibly hitting 90 today, for the first time this year, we’re reminded that, while we’ve spent the last several months longing for warmer weather, we need to show it the proper respect now that it’s here. Today we share some thoughts about heat exhaustion: how to recognize it at the onset, how to treat it, and, most importantly, how to prevent it.
GetOut! Tips for dodging March’s pop-up storms
Hello, March and the beginning of spring! That would be the “in-like-a-lion” part of the season.
And this weekend’s lionlike forecast?
Well, some of it could be nice. Then again, it could be cloudy at times. And maybe rainy. And perhaps with storms of Oz-like dimensions. In short, it’s a weekend to play it by ear. Some thoughts on that:
On fair weather crowds, foul weather solitude
From the N.C. State Parks and Recreation Facebook page on Sunday:
- Occoneechee State Natural Area full as of 11 a.m.
- Eno River State Park’s Cole Mill and Fews Ford accesses closed as of 1 p.m.
- Raven Rock State Park is full as of 10:00 a.m.
- Hanging Rock State Park is full as of 10:40 a.m. Main restrooms are closed due to sewer failure; restrooms are open at the lake parking lot. There were 1,000 more visitors at Hanging Rock yesterday than ever recorded before.
- Pilot Mountain State Park is full as of 10:40 a.m.
A thousand more visitors at Hanging Rock State Park “than ever recorded before.” That is a stunning statement if you’ve ever been at Hanging Rock on a gorgeous spring or fall afternoon. A thousand! Where on earth would an extra thousand fit?
Warm up to cold weather hiking with these strategies
If you’ve been hiking in the last couple days, you’ve likely walked out the front door on hike morning and had your first Aha! moment of the season.
Aha! as in, “Aha, I need to grab another layer or two!”
As Aha! moments go, it’s one of our favorites. We love hiking late-fall-into-winter: the air is typically dry, the diminished foliage lets you see deeper into the woods, the increasingly angled winter sunlight seems to lite the forest from the ground up.