Best Hiking Trails Archives - wildoutdooradventure.com

Most people enjoy hiking when it's sunny and dry because it offers amazing views of nature. Nevertheless, heat can and will intensify throughout the day. Therefore it is important to be appropriately prepared. Many will suffer from heat exhaustion or even faint under long exposure to the sun. So, what are the most effective tips to remain cool while hiking on a hot and dry day? There are a number of points you can do to make certain a risk-free as well as delightful journey in advance. Below are our leading tips as well as techniques incorporating every little thing from clothing options to planning the hike in advance. 15 tips to help you to remain cool while hiking on a hot day: 1. Start the hike early in the morning The sunlight around 11AM to 3PM is the hottest part of the day so it's ideal to not be on the trail at those time. Obtain a good night's rest so that you can start at 6AM or maybe even at 5AM to decrease your quantity of direct sun exposure. 2. Pick one of the most shaded paths when possible The best tip is to choose a trail that has the most shades even if the trail is longer to get from point A to B. Bunch of natural environments will provide shades including trees, canyon walls, large boulders, and caves. All of them can provide a good amount of shade so that you can rest and be cover throughout those extremely warm sunny days. Also, when picking a trail it is a good idea to pick your trail past a water source, when possible. Lacking water on a warm day in the wild is a possibly devastating occasion that will lead to dehydration and possibly fainting. 3. Drink enough water Dehydration is one of the first signs that your body gives you that you should take seriously especially being out in the hot sun over a long period of time. It can come out of nowhere and can lead to other symptoms like cramping and fainting. For normal activity and temperature levels, grownups should be drinking around half a liter per hour of water. Depending on how hot the day is and also how hard the trail is you will have to adjust the amount of water you intake to avoid dehydration. Alternatively, it is feasible to consume way too much water and experience the signs of overhydration, which is nausea or vomiting. The best way to stay avoid overhydration and dehydration is to take a couple of gulps every 20 mins during your hike instead of drinking all your water in one go. If you don’t want to carry multiple bottles of water or one huge jug of water, then a hydration pack is a must have. You carry a hydration pack like a backpack, and it will have a tube on the front near the strap so you don’t have to take it off to drink you can just suck on the tube to get the water. You can also add ice to these hydration pack so that you can have ice cold water on your hike. 4. Freeze your water and bring snacks The night before your hike you should fill your water bottle around 3/4 of the way so that when you put it in the freezer it won’t expand and crack the bottle. If you plan on using the normal 12oz water bottles, plan on freezing extra, like 3 bottles. So that you won’t run out of water during your hot hike. Another method that I do if I forget or don’t want to freeze my water the night before is to carry one big bottle like a Hydroflask and fill it up with ice cubes and water. I like this method more because you won’t have to wait for the water to melt during the hike to drink ice cold water. You should bring some trail mix while hiking because the more you sweat the more your body will lose energy. As you sweat you are losing electrolytes, salt and potassium so it’s a good idea to bring drinks that have electrolytes too, along with your trail mix or trail bars. 5. Take routine breaks This is excellent recommendations for any hiking trails especially when hiking in the hot sun. If you over-exert yourself in the hot sun, heat exhaustion can happen instantly. Taking a break ideally in the shade during your hike will help your muscle to rest, avoid cramps and heat exhaustion. 6. Acclimatize to heat The human body is amazing; the body can adjust to an exceptional variety of circumstances. If you are trying to hike for multiple days in the hot weather then you should begin acclimatizing around 10 to 15 days before your multi day hike, just so your body can get used to the heat. Its just like when going for high-altitude you should acclimatize at the elevation and not just go all in at once. In order to acclimatize to the heat you can layer up and hike close to home, stay in a sauna every day, or take a hot bath for 20 minutes. When doing those it should be around the same temperature as your big hike. 7. Load up on additional t-shirt Always pack extra clothing, it's better to have it with you when you need it than to not have it at all. Especially when you are doing overnight camping and hiking. You can never 100% correctly predict the weather, one day is hot and sunny and couple of hours later it's raining. Plus if you are sweating a lot during the hike you can change clothing right away once you are done so that you won’t be in sticky clothing the rest of the day. Not to mention your shirt would look nasty once your sweat dry off, you might be left with white stains. 8. Use sun block Always wear sun block no matter what. UV rays will damage your skin and may lead to skin cancer. Use trusted brand name sunblock with great SPF because once you show signs of being sun burn you can’t undo it. Cheap sun block will give little to no protection at all. Usually you can tell within the hour if you have the cheap sun block because UV rays are really strong especially on a hot sunny day you will get sun burn within the hour. 9. Select the appropriate shoes Picking the right shoes to hike in is important. You do not want to overdo it and wear heavy hiking boots if the trail doesn’t call for it. A lot of trails can be done in light footwears. You want to wear light breathable footwear on a sunny day so that your feet don’t sweat as much. Another thing to consider is socks. Try to wear socks that are made with wool or synthetic and avoid cotton socks because sweating in cotton socks is gross. Also remember to carry couple extra pair of socks because you do not want to wear your hiking footwear with your bare feet when your socks gets wet, you will end up with blisters. 10. Loosened and light apparel Hiking in hot weather is one of the worst times to be wearing jeans and other tight-fitting clothes. Once you start to sweat those type of clothing will stick to your skin and start rubbing against your skin. Loose t-shirts and shorts are one of my favorite clothing choices when it comes to hiking in the hot weather. But if you want to be safe in the sun wearing a loose long sleave and baggy pant will help. Picking the color of your clothing will play a part of keeping you cooler. Light color clothing will help while dark color clothing with not. Dark will absorb the heat making you hotter and sweat more. 11. Head as well as neck protection from the sun You should wear a wide-brimmed hat to cover the back of your neck. Even with sunblock the back of the neck tends to be the part that is exposed to the sun the most and the first to get sunburn. With the wide-brimmed hat, it would also protect your face too. If you don’t like to wear hats then at least use something lightweight like a bandana to cover your neck. 12. Identify as well as deal with heat exhaustion When the body can’t deal with the heat anymore that is when you get the heat exhaustion. You will feel dehydrated, dizziness, rapid pulse, tired and headaches. If it gets bad enough you may pass out. If you experience any of this try to get out of the sun asap. Once out of the sun you should drink water and rest a bit to cool down so you can continue the trail. You can use some of the water to splash on the face and neck to quickly get rid of the heat. While resting you should also eat some snacks. 13. Reduce your speed during the hottest part of the day Try to not do the steepest incline of your hike during the hottest part of the day. Its better to slow down in the shade during those times and save the hardest part of the hike towards the end when it cools down a bit. When you are planning to do a multi-day hike, try to plan alternative trails or back up camping spots so that if the weather is too hot to handle you can have a plan B to do or rest. Don’t be hardhead and try to continue on the trail when your body can’t handle the hot heat because that’s when accidents is most likely to happen because the heat will catch you off guard. 14. Hike with someone Make sure that everyone that is planning to go with you are prepared for the heat and bring a lot of water. You need to go with at least another person so in case something really bad happens like if you faint from the heat a person is there to help you. Make sure everyone knows the sign of heat exhaustion and what to do if people end up getting it. 15. Tips for solo hikers If you do plan on hiking solo then you should think about packing extra water, food, and gears. If you do get injured on the hike, try to find a shady spot to rest and wait for help. The number one tip is to always tell someone your plan, what trail you are going to take and what time you should be back. You do not want to be stuck out in nature for couple of days when they could have sent help once they don’t hear back from you. Hiking in the hot weather can be fun when you are prepared for it. If not, then you will have a really bad experience. Hopefully this list of tips helped you out.