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.
Tag Archives: summer
5 cool hikes for when the heat returns (and it will)
A variation of this post originally ran Aug. 6, 2014, titled “SUMMER HIKING: BEAT THE HEAT.” Two years later, we played with it again and reran it on July 20, 2016, as “HIKING: WHERE TO BEAT THE HEAT.” It appeared under that heading again on July 6, 2021. On Aug. 11, 2023, it ran again, paired down from 10 hikes to 5, but with more detail on each hike. It runs again today, on the 11th anniversary of its initial appearance, with one caveat.
Now, a word about your drinking problem
We run this post when it gets hot, really hot. Like, as hot as it’s been lately. It’s part of our program to get you safely through the summer hiking season.
Now, with summer’s heat having set in, is a good time to talk about your drinking problem.
How to survive summer hiking (and smell swell, too)
I used to love hiking in summer heat. The past couple years, though, not so much. Coming into this summer I got me to wondering why.
With the recent spate of record-breaking temperatures, I decided to hit the trail and see if I could pinpoint my growing problem with summer.
A summer hike recalls summer vacation
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.