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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I love to hike and hiked one time in terrain like this with a small child. We took a short hike on flat ground. The California heat was brutal. The trail felt like desert even though it was a mountain. We were fine and never in danger. My point is that is some serious heat even if you remain on flat ground. It sucks the moisture right out of you, and you can’t even tell you’re sweating or losing water.

This story makes me so sad, and it feels personal since we took a California hike with our small child. I feel so badly for their friends and family.

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I've never been a hiker myself, I'm not into camping or outdoorsy activities, although I wish I was. Wherever I see anyone post about camping with their families or I see them paddle boating it looks like so much fun... but I know I wouldn't enjoy it as much as they are in the pictures.

Ley me ask you a question as someone who's never hiked -- everyone says Arizona and places West are a dry heat, like standing in front of an oven door... is that harder on the bodies physiology than let's daddy hiking in heat & humidity?

Does it dehydrate you faster being a dry heat?
Are theyre any benefits of hiking in a drier heat (besides frizz-less hair, I mean 😉).

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I’m not sure if there are advantages beyond less frizzy hair. ;-)

I’m also not sure if dehydration happens faster. What’s tricky is that you sweat without realizing it. Without that cue of sweat pouring down your back or face, we may not think to drink any or enough. On another short desert walk, I felt extremely unprepared for the dry air. Again, a short walk. We did NOT have a plentiful amount of water, I had no idea gas stations could be so far apart. East coasters like me may not be used to just how empty it can be out west.

Let’s just say I have been extremely lucky despite some naive things I have done in the past.

The article up thread with the usual causes of death of hikers is useful, and I will use some of those tips and advice. In a lot of the stories, you can see what the mistakes were and avoid those. Mistake avoidance won’t remove all danger yet will reduce it. The one story about the woman who left her day pack and emergency supplies while she took a side hike was painful to read. She fell 25 feet and broke a lot of bones. Her sleeping bag and food was in the pack she had left behind. She is lucky she survived.

Another person wasn’t good at using a compass and continued her hike even when her friend had to leave. I would never hike alone unless I was on the C and O canal or something. That person died because no one could find her after she left the trail to pee. She went deeper into the woods instead of crawling to a higher place where a helicopter may have seen her. I think she became confused due to fear.

I don’t blame these poor people. I have made many dumb mistakes over the years and was simply lucky. If I shared my mistakes, I would probably be excoriated here.

The articles I read after this tragedy said overconfidence is one of the reasons people get hurt or die.

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