On Memorial Day weekend, we floated Mt. Hersey to Grinders Ferry on the Buffalo River with some of our best friends or “tramily.” A tramily is a group of people that meet on a trail and stay together for an amount of time. I know floating doesn’t involve a dirt trail but we do follow the river and we did meet on dirt trails. When backpacking season is over, we trade one trail for another and float together when we can. We always have a great time and I enjoy the time spent around the campfire cooking and laughing most. I can’t wait to do this again. This was my first float of the year and because I am very susceptible to heat exhaustion, I have to take extra measures to keep cool. I thought with summer knocking on the door, it would be a good time to share these with you.
1. Wear light colored, not cotton clothing.
2. Use good sunscreen and apply it often.
3. Wear a hat with some sort of a bill to keep as much of the sun away from your face as possible.
4. Wear sunglasses. I use no glare glasses and it helps to not have the constant glare.
5. Use an insulated cup to drink from so it will keep your drink as cold as possible. And, if you’re not drinking anything water based, drink cold water too.
6. Eat cold food! I freeze pineapple and berries and put watermelon, apples and other fruit in the cooler to keep it as cold as possible. I also have cheese sticks and other snacks in the cooler as well.
7. I have a ziploc bag that has several frozen handkerchiefs in it so I can wash my face with a cold rag.
8. Get in the water as often as possible. You might not realize how hot you really are and getting in is one of the best ways to cool off.
9. Bring a squirt gun to use to defend yourself from others and more importantly to wet yourself down between stops.
10. Eat lite during the day. Remember if you do get sick, everything you ate is coming back up.
How do you stay cool?
