[at-l] R'nR article/heat exhaustion/sunburn

[gadog430 at charter.net (Ga. Dawg)]

This below is all too true. 

I went to Tybee Island in the early eighties as a young and foolish
early twenties year old. 
No sunscreen, and I stayed on the beach for most of the morning thru
midday. 

I had the worst sunburn that I have ever had. I could not sit down, lay
down, nothing. And I think that The fact that I am NOT suceptible to
such things saved me a trip to the ER.

If it had been someone that was less sun/outdoor inclined, and had not
grown up on the lake in a boat, they would have been extremely extremely
sick. 

To this very day, I still have the small brown spots on my upper body as
reminders. 
My legs never burn, its my shoulders and the area of my breast bone. 

Dawgburn


-----Original Message-----
From: at-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
[mailto:at-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of
Bluetrail@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 9:33 AM
To: at-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: [at-l] R'nR article/heat exhaustion/sunburn



Well, I don't know about the article but I do know, from personal
experience, how little time it takes to get heat exhaustion and
extremely severe sunburn.  

First, I am a VERY fair skinned, blue-eyed, formerly blondish (now
gray).  

In the early 70's I spent between 2.5 and 3 after-lunch hours pulling
weeds in a ranch garden in Wyoming, elevation 6,500 feet.  I was
crawling around on my hands and knees, and my polo shirt wasn't long
enough to cover a crescent of "virgin" (never really exposed to the sun)
skin between the shirt and my jeans.   It was the WORST sunburn I've
ever had--very close to third degree.  The skin was swollen and the
color of raw meat.  I hung out at the ranch for two days in my bathrobe!
I ran a fever.  If the crescent had been any larger, I'd have had to go
to the hospital.   Since I did a lot of riding at the time and my hair
was longish, other skin was somewhat burned, but was at least used to
sun exposure.  The crescent shape was burned onto my skin for years.
Undoubtedly, altitude added to the problem.

On my first ever backpacking trip, circa 1979, I was doing everything no
one in his/her right mind would do today.  It was Florida, temperature
94, humidity Heaven knows what.  I was NOT in any kind of hiking
condition.  I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeves white shirt (for sun
protection).   I was probably carrying at least 50 lbs. in my pack.  We
were slogging through sugar sand (loose, deep sand) for less than two
hours when I noticed I was bone dry--not a drop of sweat anywhere.  I
didn't remember the last half hour of hiking.   I told the leader,
thankfully he had EMT credentials, that I wasn't sweating.  He burdened
some of the others with a lot of my pack contents, took a little extra
water from everyone, and turned around with me.  We took a LOT of time
walking back to the initial trailhead while the others went on.   He put
a little salt in the water and kept me drinking.  He tied a wet bandana
around my head and kept pouring water on my head.  As soon as we got to
the trailhead, he drove to a store and got me a huge bottle of gatorade
and saw to it that I drank the whole thing.   He took me to the far
campground and had me get into a cool shower for 30 minutes (keeping my
head under as much as possible) and then kept me drinking constantly
through the evening.  Even with all the liquid consumed, I didn't pee
for 24 hours.------I've had one, much less severe experience with heat
exhaustion in Florida.   Milder because I keep a close watch out for
symptoms now.

I'm not sure about the girl's weird burn patterns, but I do know how
really little time it can take to get heat exhaustion and/or really
severe sunburn.

Have fun out there, but try to use more sense than I did.

Joan
bluetrail@aol.com



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