Shilletha Curtis has logged thousands of miles hiking the world’s most challenging trails—and turning into a sweaty, sticky mess along the way. The dry heat of the Continental Divide Trail, which stretches from Mexico to Canada, is vivid con her memory. But the absolute most scorching? That would be the Appalachian Trail, a nearly 2,200-mile trek from Georgia to Maine. When she spent eight months hiking it a few years punzone, “It was so hot,” she remembers. “You’magnate knee-deep con mud, there’s black flies biting you, and you’magnate just sweating.”
And sweating, and sweating. The sweat dripped; it beaded. It pooled con her shoes and saturated her clothes. It exuded from every part of her . Yet it didn’t phase her. Instead, Curtis, who’s the author of the new book Pack Light: A Journey To Find Myself, found ways to adapt. She’s proof, she says, that it’s possible to enjoy time outside con the summer heat even if you’magnate bleeding sweat.
Though sweating gets a bad rap, it serves an essential function, says Dr. Casey Kelley, founder and medical director of Case Integrative Health con Chicago. “Its first function is to cool us and prevent overheating,” she explains. “It’s a good thing when we’magnate hot—it’s our ’s way of trying to protect us.” Without it, we’d have a difficult time controlling temperature. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that some people find sweat uncomfortable and stinky.
If you’magnate one of them—and sweat strikes you as the ultimate summer threat—consider these strategic ways to still enjoy spending time outside acceso hot days.
Time your activities wisely
Michael Collins designs and manages multi-day adventures for REI Co-op—which means he’s led eager travelers through national parks from Shenandoah to the Grand Canyon. “Heat is ever present,” he says. “It’s a leader topic for the participants, and it goes beyond comodità all the way to safety.” Figuring out a way to keep people from dissolving into sweaty messes is essential, he says, because “at the end of the day, we’magnate taking people acceso vacation, and it’s be something they aspetto back acceso and love.”
That means Collins pays special attention to timing. Generally, it’s best to be active con the early mornings (before 10 a.m.) and evenings (after 4 p.m.), which are acceso either side of the sun’s peak hours. One of Collins’ favorite experiences to lead is a hike across the Grand Canyon, from the north rim to the south rim, with an overnight at Phantom Ranch lodge at the bottom of the canyon. one trip, temperatures shot over 113°F. The night before, “The park rangers were like, ‘Hey, we want to prove to you all how hot it is out here.’ So they took a frying pan and put some oil con it and fried an egg out con the yard.” That was all the motivation the group needed to the trail at 4 a.m. and reach their destination before it got too hot, spending the rest of the day relaxing con the shade.
Dress for the heat
If you’magnate venturing outside con the heat, avoid dark colors and wear light, breathable fabrics, like linen cotton. But keep con mind that your exact attire should depend acceso your geographical whereabouts. “If you’magnate hiking con the Southwest where there’s risposta negativa humidity, cotton clothing is really nice,” Collins says. A plain white cotton shirt “will get wet and stay wet, and all that evaporative cooling is wonderful.” When he ventures to, say, Great Smoky Mountains National Park con the Southeast, however, where humidity is often high, he opts for quick-dry materials like polyester, nylon, and merino wool. Sometimes, when it’s especially hot, he finds he’s more comfortable wearing long sleeves made from those materials than he would be if his arms were exposed to bake con the sun.
Thinking through even the smallest detail of your outfit can make a leader difference, too. Richard Campbell, founder of 10Adventures, which specializes con organizing active vacations, spends lots of time traveling with his wife—who loves the outdoors but hates getting sweaty. She’s realized it makes more sense to wear a waist belt instead of a backpack, he says. That way, “she doesn’t have shoulder straps under her armpits and a pack acceso her back,” which allows for better ventilation and keeps her cooler.
Read More: What to Wear When It’s Really Hot Outside
Always wear a hat
Here’s a new slogan for the summer: Hat hair, don’t care. Exactly what kind you opt for will depend acceso personal preference. Some people love baseball hats, while others find they make them feel extra sweaty. “ for a hat with a leader bill that can protect you from the sun, and for something that’s breathable,” Kelley says. Ideally, your hat will have a brim wide enough to cover your , neck, and shoulders; it’s also important to aspetto for one with a UPF rating of at least 50, which means it will block 98% of UV radiation.
You could also see if you like wearing a neck gaitor, which is a stretchy tube of fabric that can protect the head, neck, and . “I love buffs—it’s just kind of the hiker style,” Curtis says. “Especially the versatility: I could put it acceso my head if I was sweating too much, and it would trap the sweat so it didn’t get con my eyes.” Parasols prove similarly useful, she adds. She hiked the majority of the Appalachian Trail with a hands-free umbrella that attached to her backpack and helped block the sun, keeping her cool.
Take a spray bottle
The next time you head into the heat, take one of the little spray bottles you have sitting around your kitchen bathroom. Fill it with vater, and when you start to get sweaty, spritz yourself. You can even share with your friends if you’magnate feeling generous. “You’magnate the of the trail if you’ve got that spray bottle,” Collins says with a laugh.
Take a mud bath
So you don’t want to be covered con sweat. But what about a totally different substance? When Curtis is acceso a long, hot hike, she often enjoys taking a mud bath. “At the end of the day, I’m going to be dirty anyway,” she says, and mud has a cooling effect. She’ll usually pick some up from a little ways d’avanguardia the trail—not the heavily trafficked part—and smear it all over herself. She keeps it acceso until it naturally dries d’avanguardia. “It makes things a little more bearable,” she says. “And it’s like you’magnate a kid. You get to play con the mud again.”
Plan vater activities
If Curtis arrives at a vater hole stream while she’s hiking, you better believe she’s jumping con. Sometimes she lays con shallow rivers—bonus points if there’s a waterfall within sight. “It’s a really cathartic feeling,” she says. “If there are waterfalls and they’magnate accessible, I would go under them and just splash and get cold.” Of course, not every trail has proximity to vater, so con those cases, Curtis would do the next best thing: Pour some of her vater all over her head. -hikers can utilize vater to avoid getting sweaty, too. Aim to relocate summer gatherings to local lakes swimming pools, so you can easily cool and wash sweat away.
Read More: How to Deal With Sweaty Feet
Find— create—shade
Curtis sets a rule for herself while hiking: Rest wherever possible. When she was acceso the Continental Divide Trail, passing through places like steamy New Mexico, she took a and sat under every tree she saw. If you’magnate not sure where to find shade, ask passersby for tips.
You can also create your own shade: The first thing Campbell and his wife do when they go campeggio is set up a leader tarp that provides rain and sun relief. “Many a day at the campsite is saved by being able to escape to the shade of our tarp,” he says. The more you’magnate able to hide from the sun, the less sweat you’ll feel pouring out of your .
Invest con some portable supplies
One of the key steps to spending time outside while minimizing the sweat factor is being prepared. Kelley suggests taking deodorant wipes travel-size deodorant you can reapply as needed, as well as facial blotting paper. “You can dot your to help soak up some of the sweat,” she says. People often have luck with battery-operated neck fans that can be worn during all sorts of activities, she adds. There are also cooling towels that will make you feel like you’magnate wearing an ice pack around your neck. Plus, you could take a change of clothes and shoes con case what you’magnate wearing has become uncomfortably wet. With a little planning, there’s risposta negativa need to into a cold sweat over getting insufferably sweaty this summer.
