[at-l] warming up after hiking

[delita@mindspring.com (Delita Wright)]

The thing was - I was never sweating.  That was what the *test* was about
and that was what I kept an eye on the whole way.  I even checked the
inside of the goretex both at the halfway point (where I stopped for
restroom and snack) and as soon as I got home.  No moisture at all on the
goretex or me, either time.

I was never hot - rather hiking *cool* all the way.  Since this was a
*test* for exactly that (to see if I would be too warm in the goretex, or
too cool), I thought about it every 10-15 minutes the entire 3 hours.  My
plan was to open the jacket zipper if I started perspiring (but I never
did).  And to put on an insulating layer (which I was carrying) if I was
too cool (which I also never did - I was cool, but comfortable the whole
way)   I only started to feel a little cold in a few places in the last
3/4 mile, and didn't stop because I was almost home.

Wear less when walking?  One thin nylon or poly layer under unlined
goretex at 38 down to 25*?   In these conditions, I expect I would wear an
insulating layer and just vent more or remove some goretex if I started
perspiring.  Actually, in these conditions I wouldn't normally wear
goretex, but wanted to see how bad the sweating would be at these temps if
I ever needed to wear the goretex for some reason.

BTW, I automatically shift layers on and off and do venting, etc. when
walking.  It's very automatic.  I tend to stay *cool but comfortable* all
the time I walk, up hill and down.  Remember my credo: eat before hungry,
drink before thirsty, rest before tired?  It also means cover up before
cold, uncover before hot, treat the hot spot before it's a blister...
Works for me.

I certainly did NOT crash my blood sugar!! LOL  Not that it's not
possible, but that I would have noticed. ;-)

What I realize now is that I must have been generating just enough heat to
keep me warm inside the goretex without an insulating layer - but I wasn't
producing enough heat to make perspiration.  (Remember, I was *looking*
for it.)  In the last 1/2 hour, I was maybe generating not quite enough to
keep me *as* warm as I had been, with the temps dropped so far, which is
why my thighs, particularly, finally starting feeling cold.

When I got home the temp difference was 40* - which felt *too warm* when I
walked in wearing wool and goretex and still generating heat.  I took off
the wool and goretex which left me in thin nylon in a 65* room.  I quite
often have temps that low - in fact, only keep them up because my iMac
refuses to work below 65*! LOL  But usually I have more clothes on.  I
think my dermal layer at that point was holding the cold, but the heater
inside me got switched off.

My mistake was not putting on the fleeces when I walked in - and probably
should have gone for a warm drink, too.  The lesson was how fast I went
from putting out heat to losing heat.  The moment I stopped moving, it was
like flipping a switch.  Interesting lesson.

Not everything is blood sugar. ;-)

You brought up (again) an interesting thing about the safety factor of
hiking alone in winter.  So is it your contention that no one should ever
hike alone in winter?  Just curious.

Delita

--
Delita Wright
Chapel Hill, NC

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