THE SITUATION IS THE BOSS, MAN: HUMBLY HYPOTHERMIC ON THE COLORADO TRAIL
Words & photos by Josh Sheets
The Colorado Trail (CT) is often billed as “mile for mile, the most beautiful trail in America.” In 2018, I experienced each one of the beautiful 486 miles from Denver southbound to Durango. I even took the higher and more scenic Collegiate West route. During my pre-trip research, I repeatedly encountered cautionary tales about the afternoon summertime thunderstorms; they are like clockwork and should be taken seriously. It is stressed that you should be over all of your day’s passes by early afternoon or be prepared to wait out a storm at a lower elevation until proceeding up and over. Being off the main ridgeline reduces your exposure and chance of a lightning strike. I did my pre-trip due diligence and didn’t skip over these nuggets of information. After all, everyone knows you can get struck by lightning. However, I would learn the hard way that the risk of a lightning strike is just one of the things that could kill you. The CT was the first time I was exposed to backpacking above treeline for an extended period. Not even on the AT in New Hampshire and Maine did hiking above treeline amount to the exposure the CT provides. Hiking in such vast spaces makes for some great weather observations, and I would routinely see thunderstorms way off on the horizon. The mornings would be cool and sunny each day, but ominous cumulonimbus clouds would start to build by late morning. Heavy thunderstorms were practically a daily occurrence between 12’noon and about 4:00 pm. Usually, hailstones between the sizes of a pea to nickel would accompany the storms. This was all new to me and somewhat exhilarating because, after all, I cherish being in the mountains and experiencing them, weather and all.READING & KNOWING THE WEATHER
When hiking above treeline (or in general), I encourage you to be keenly aware of the weather. Basic knowledge of weather (patterns, locale-specific meteorology, etc.) are feathers in your cap.Hyperlite has enlisted a professional meteorologist for your viewing and reading pleasure. See his introductory post: Michael has also crafted quite an extensive debrief about how to understand weather:
I highly recommend those, as they may increase the scope of your knowledge. For most of us in our normal lives, the weather is something we check to see if we should wear a sweater or pack an umbrella, which is mostly a minor inconvenience. The importance of knowing the weather is heightened when outdoors. When in the backcountry, you are at its mercy, and it is something that can kill you or, at the very least, place you in a situation that is very dangerous. Hikers have died from hypothermia, lightning strikes, surprise snowstorms, etc. It’s the very quick turn of the weather that catches most hikers off guard. Mother Nature may warn you of what is imminent. It is up to you whether you heed that warning and if you are prepared. I did not and could have paid a very steep price in this real-life example.HYPOTHERMIA 101
Hypothermia, by definition, is when your body loses heat faster than it can produce it, and that causes your body temperature to decrease. If your temperature falls below 95°F (98.6°F is considered “normal”), you have become hypothermic. I’ll go ahead and assume that you are not carrying a thermometer in the backcountry, so recognizing the symptoms is even more important! Even very mild hypothermia is an emergency due to the risk of continued decline in body temperature. Depending on where you are and who you’re talking to, there are three or five stages of hypothermia. For the purpose of this article, we will use the simplified three stages. These should be identified as soon as possible because the longer you’re hypothermic, there is an increased likelihood your cognitive ability will decline.MILD HYPOTHERMIA
Symptoms: shivering, increased heart rate, rapid breathing, lack of judgment/inability to think, may have trouble with speech.MODERATE HYPOTHERMIA
Symptoms: slowed reflexes/lethargy*, slowed breathing, enlarged pupils, abnormal heart rhythm, an increased decline in cognitive abilities * Typically, shivering will stop in this stage (this can cause false thinking that one is warming up).SEVERE HYPOTHERMIA
Symptoms: labored breathing, nonreactive pupils, heart failure, death may be imminent It is important that once you have identified symptoms, you take action. So:• Get out of the weather/be less exposed.
• Pitch your tent and get in your sleeping bag.
• Remove damp/wet layers and put on dry clothes.
• Cotton is a NO in the backcountry—pack extra layers as a backup.
• Keep your gear as dry as possible, and your “reserve” clothes are kept dry at all costs.
• Hike with a partner when possible.
• Carry a fire-starting kit: cotton balls with Vaseline and matches/lighter in a Ziplock bag.
FOLLOW THE RECIPE
A wise man once told me, “Even if you know all of the ingredients, you may not follow the recipe.” On that day, I did not follow the recipe. For all intents and purposes, please follow the recipe:1) Make wise decisions.
2) Know how to read the weather and be prepared.
3) Know how to prevent, identify, and treat hypothermia.