How hot is too hot to walk?

[ILUVSWTAS]

Dead horse gap.... lol

I suspect that name indicates some challenging terrain?

[north-north-west]

No, it's pretty easy walking on the track, not that I went up via the track, of course.
Access to the Main Range from a couple of km upriver of Thredbo. Lovely country.

[ILUVSWTAS]

I wouldnt mind starting a thread about places with funny names, I suspect the moderators would not be happy with some entries though....

[north-north-west]

I think it would be OK, I sort of have permission for a discussion of strangely-named (nonPC) places. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Bush Walker]

25?? Wow, it must be hard to get a walk in over summer then??

Its not really if you are prepared to go somewhere coastal or perhaps Tasmania?

[geoskid]

I think it would be OK, I sort of have permission for a discussion of strangely-named (nonPC) places. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Yeah!!
If you would be so kind, could you define "sort of" and "Strangely-named"

[Nuts]

25?? Wow, it must be hard to get a walk in over summer then??

Its not really if you are prepared to go somewhere coastal or perhaps Tasmania?

imo 25c is Too hot down here. personally I find cold (even down to 8/10*c) is ideal!

[tasadam]

I don't know how hot is too hot to walk for me, but I do prefer cool to cold too. I suppose if it starts getting too hot, rest more and drink more.

[ILUVSWTAS]

25?? Wow, it must be hard to get a walk in over summer then??

Its not really if you are prepared to go somewhere coastal or perhaps Tasmania?

Well funnily enough I do all my walking in Tasmania and over summer its usually over 25.....

[Bush Walker]

25?? Wow, it must be hard to get a walk in over summer then??

Its not really if you are prepared to go somewhere coastal or perhaps Tasmania?

Well funnily enough I do all my walking in Tasmania and over summer its usually over 25.....

I don't know where you walk in Tasmania but in the central highlands it is rare to find 25 deg or more eg I have the following weather data for the Overland track weather for January

mean daily max temp 16
lowest daily max 8
highest daily max 25
days 2.2 degrees or lower 2
days of snow 0
days of frost 1-2
clear days 2
cloudy days 11
days of mist 2
days of fog 0-1
days of strong wind 1
days over 30 0
mean daily min temp 6
highest daily min temp 15
days of .1mm rainfall 16
total rainfall 180mm
highest daily rainfall 33mm

[corvus]

Bush_Walker wrote
[/quote]
I don't know where you walk in Tasmania but in the central highlands it is rare to find 25 deg or more eg I have the following weather data for the Overland track weather for January

[/quote]

Bush_Walker,
You know what they say about "statistics"
I have personally experienced temperatures well in excess of 25c in the Central Highlands and in and around the OLT on a number of occasions and last summer it got up to 38c on the Arm River Track.
So please do not be misled by what you have read it can and does get hot in Tasmania.
Regards
corvus

[ninjapuppet]

On the overland track in feb, 20th feb this year, at waterfall valley My thermometer registered 30 degrees at 10pm
true or not, i know i had to open up my sleeping bag in order to get to sleep.

then a few days later, i think on the 24/2/10 at lake st clair, my thermometer registered -2 at 5am.
apparently it was one of the coldest feb they had in many years.

[ILUVSWTAS]

I do most of my walking in the Southwest. In summer on the buttongrass plains it gets WELL over 25 degrees on most warmish days.

[Macca81]

i used to spend a month fishing at lake king william every christmas holidays as a kid, (for those who dont know, lake king william is about 4km away from lake st claire). my old man used to keep track of the daytime temps, and during the time we were there it was VERY rare to get below 20 deg at midday, 35+ was occuring at least once a week. this was the trend over about 4 years.

so, i rekon the OT gets more temps over 25 than the data sugests

[Cocksy_86]

i heart 30+ with high humidity. storms coming round every 1hr coolin me and everythin off. the cold really gets my morale down for some strange reason.

just need to monitor and regulate salt and fluid intake and outake(sp?). Staminade is the recommended treatment for heat cramps. And it tastes good too

You can use a poncho as a rain catchment with the hood feeding into a dry sack which can then be easily tipped into a camelbak or water bladder. It's a two person job. Or alternatively collect the water that's running down the path and treat it.

[north-north-west]

I think it would be OK, I sort of have permission for a discussion of strangely-named (nonPC) places. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Yeah!!
If you would be so kind, could you define "sort of" and "Strangely-named"

Ummmmm, it was along the lines of: I see nothing wrong with a discussion titled 'Strangely named places you might visit" or something like that.
And by strangely-named, we mean a little risque, or decidedly non-PC. Things that would likely be moderated and/or censored if they were gratuitously thrown into an unrelated thread.
I was thinking of waiting until I had photos from a few more of my favourites, but we can start now, if you like?

[ILUVSWTAS]

Ok i'll go, I deliver mail to a place on Bruny called

Cox's drive on Stiffy's creek.

[north-north-west]

I think we need to start a special thread. With a warning for the more sensitive members.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Ah we'll leave that up to the Mods.....

[Bush Walker]

i used to spend a month fishing at lake king william every christmas holidays as a kid, (for those who dont know, lake king william is about 4km away from lake st claire). my old man used to keep track of the daytime temps, and during the time we were there it was VERY rare to get below 20 deg at midday, 35+ was occuring at least once a week. this was the trend over about 4 years.

so, i rekon the OT gets more temps over 25 than the data sugests

It is interesting that my statistics ( below) were collected from BOM before I did the Overland track for the first time in about 1995. As you can see temperatures over 25 deg were rare , but if you collect the same data for January 2009, or 2010 the statistics show up that up to a third of the days were over 25 deg. So I have to agree with those saying my stats were not supported by their observations

Climate warming?

[Son of a Beach]

Climate warming?

I think it's more likely you just happend to fluke a particularly cool summer for your initial sample.

I remember there was a VERY good ski season in Tasmania some time in the mid-nineties where I remember the snow on the Summit tow was deeper than the tow pilons (one of the last times I've been skiing on good snow). Maybe that was 1995?

[Bush Walker]

Climate warming?

I think it's more likely you just happend to fluke a particularly cool summer for your initial sample.

I guess my point at the beginning of this thread is that I don't walk with a 25 kg pack if the temperature is above 25 deg unless forced to do so, by distance between waterholes or campsites. I have pulled out of walks when the temperate has threatened to be 30 deg and we would be carrying extra water. I get heat cramps which make me a liability!

[flyfisher]

I guess my point at the beginning of this thread is that I don't walk with a 25 kg pack if the temperature is above 25 deg unless forced to do so, by distance between waterholes or campsites. I have pulled out of walks when the temperate has threatened to be 30 deg and we would be carrying extra water. I get heat cramps which make me a liability!

Generally we don't walk with 25kg packs in any temperature. 16 to 20 kg is heaps for a few days.

Do you have to carry a lot of water over there, as in Tassie in most areas we are not usually far from water.

Flyfisher

[Bush Walker]

Do you have to carry a lot of water over there, as in Tassie in most areas we are not usually far from water.

Flyfisher

In SA the Flinders Ranges and Gammons further north are often dry in September as most of the rain falls in February as the tail end of the cyclones sweep down from near Broome. Sometimes you might have to walk a whole day between water.

[flyfisher]

Yeah, point taken Bush_walker,so how much water would you have to carry for a day in 25 to 30 degrees. Is the water supply at days end etc. fairly certain and reliable. It's not normally an issue in Tas but can be in certain areas in dry years.

FF

[davidmorr]

There is a measure called "apparent temperature" that defines the temperature your body feels in a variety of atmospheric conditions.

One which you will all have heard of is wind chill. In this case, the wind can make the body feel colder than the ambient air temperature. (This is due to the increased rate of evaporation of skin moisture from the skin because of the air movement.)

So, for example, if the air temperature is 4 degrees, and the wind is blowing at 30 km/h, the body will feel an apparent temperature of -4 degrees.

Now, there is a similar measure that takes account of the humidity, called the heat index. If the humidity is high, the body's natural cooling mechanism, evaporation of sweat from the skin, is less effective. The body can therefore not cool down as much as it needs to, and the internal temperature will rise.

For example, if the air temperature is 36 degrees, and the humidity is 70% (not uncommon along the coast in summer), the apparent temperature experienced by the body is 54 degrees, well into heat stroke territory.

For reference, these are the health risks from apparent temperature:
32-40 Heat cramps or heat exhaustion possible
41-54 Heat cramps or heat exhaustion likely; Heat stroke possible
>54 Heat stroke highly likely

All of these are serious, and heat stroke is potentially fatal.

Add to this the fact that your apparent temperature is raised by 8 degrees in the midday sun, and you can see that walking in high temperatures can have major health risks.

See these docs for the details:

http://davidmorrison.id.au/ApparentTemperatures-WindChill.pdf
http://davidmorrison.id.au/ApparentTemperatures-HeatIndex.pdf

[north-north-west]

What about for those of us who actually prefer high humidity?

A dry 30 knocks me out far more than a nice sticky 40+. I love the tropics.

[Bush Walker]

Yeah, point taken Bush_walker,so how much water would you have to carry for a day in 25 to 30 degrees. Is the water supply at days end etc. fairly certain and reliable. It's not normally an issue in Tas but can be in certain areas in dry years.

FF

I have seen figures of 9L per day walking at 5 km/hr with a 25 deg pack

I have collected some resources on heat related problems

http://bit.ly/cAMJ6r
http://bit.ly/bgshvK

[walkinTas]

When you are constantly sweating it is very easy to loose large amounts of water.

I'd say a lot of people don't drink enough when they walk. A healthy person should produce around 1 to 2 litres of urine a day. Your bladder can hold about ¼ of a litre before you know its there and about ½ a litre before you need to empty it. So it you are hydrating at an acceptable rate, you should urinate about 5 times a day. This is only a rough rule-of-thumb. However, if you are one of those people who walk all day and don't feel the urge, and/or when you do urinate it is dark yellow or amber coloured, then you are not drinking enough water. Even very mild dehydration or under hydrating can lead to sore hips, knees and ankles and aching legs, because water is essential for joint lubrication.

And yes you can over hydrate too, but that is much rarer and is related to high loss of sodium (salt) - hyponatremia. Not something the average bushwalker in Tassie is likely to experience. Carrying an electrolyte powder packets to stir into your evening drink will prevent this - if you are worried.

[Macca81]

What about for those of us who actually prefer high humidity?

A dry 30 knocks me out far more than a nice sticky 40+. I love the tropics.

with you on this one. have spent time in thailand and malaysia during periods where 35 was the avarage temp, and humidity was so high that you could hardly tell when the afternoon storms started cause you was already walking through water land back in hobart and its 27 deg, no breeze, no humidity and also no ozone above us you can feel yourself burning the moment you step off the plane!


i love tassie! but by god our summer is awful!