Dehydration Prevention for Hiking in Hot Weather

Hiking can be difficult as well as dangerous if you are doing it in hot and humid weather. When hiking in hot and humid weather there is a significantly higher chance of becoming dehydrated. This dehydration can often lead to someone fainting in your hiking group or team. Most amateur hikers do not actually understand why hiking in hot weather is so much more difficult for the body. To sum it up, hiking in hot and humid weather puts significantly more stress on your muscles, your respiratory system, as well as your heart. It also requires significantly more water from your body.

There’s no reason why anyone should faint due to hydration on a hike. All you have to do is take some simple precautionary measures and everyone should be fine. First, the night before a hike everyone should drink tons of water to make sure their bodies are completely hydrated before you go on your hike. Each person in the hiking group should also bring a water bottle with them. If you can put the water in a thermos with ice that’s better because cold water passes through the digestive system faster than warm water. This provides water to your muscles faster than warm water would.

In hot weather, you should take a break every fifteen minutes for at least five minutes. During this break each member in the hiking group should drink at least half a liter of water. Consuming things like Gatorade also helps to prevent dehydration. One of the major causes of dehydration is loss of electrolytes. Gatorade contains tons of electrolytes that helps replenish your body’s store of electrolytes. It’s better to drink a mixture of water and Gatorade combined, about half of the mixture being Gatorade. This allows your body to get the electrolytes it needs without working too much to digest the Gatorade.

If anyone in your hiking group is becoming lightheaded you should immediately stop hiking and try to get them into an air conditioned building. Sometimes dehydration can be very serious and can even result in hospitalization. By taking these simple precautionary measures and drinking a lot of water you will almost never have to deal with someone fainting due to dehydration. If someone does faint due to hydration the key is to not panic. This will only make the situation worse and it will not help the person in distress. If they faint, just get them to a doctor as soon as possible!

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