Heat & Stupidity

I went for my hike/run as usual today. I rolled into the parking lot a bit before five o'clock and the temperature in the shade in the parking lot was 103 degrees. The hottest day so far this year for hiking. Well actually I think it was just the hottest day this year...period. I usually run quite a bit every time too, but I can tell you that today there was hardly any running going on and I wasn't exactly Speedy Gonzalez in the hiking department either! And today I even shortened my hike a bit because of the heat. I carry a small cooler in my car, and I usually bring along two bottles of water once the temperature gets over 80 degrees. I carry one bottle during my hike, and the other is for after I finish my hike. And today I packed along a nice juicy nectarine for afterwards too.

I crossed paths with at least 8 other hikers today and none of them were carrying any water with them at all. None. Nada. Zilch. In fact, not one person that I saw in the park today was carrying water. Hello...it was 103 out there today!! I sucked my water down pretty quickly as well as the one waiting in the car. How can a person walk those trails in this heat for an hour or more without water? It's sheer stupidity!

Okay, I may be a certifiable lunatic to hike in this heat, but at least I'm not stupid. I carry water and I modified my hiking exertion to fit the heat. Well I say I modified, but really the heat did it for me. I don't think I could have walked any faster today or run anymore than the little bit that I did. And I got thirsty pretty quickly up the first big hill. That's just 10 minutes into the hike!.

So you can call me crazy anytime, but rest assured I'm not an idiot!