I have always had trouble with heat. As a kid in PE class, I would often be red-faced for hours after outside activities, sometimes nauseous and lightheaded as well. This does not serve me well when I go on “grown-up hikes” with Jeremy or a friend. More often than not, I will throw up at some point, despite staying hydrated, fed, and replacing electrolytes religiously. I’ve come to accept this about myself, and continue to enjoy challenging hikes, even if I know it will end with a barf bag.
It seems I have passed this wonderful trait on to my oldest daughter, Mikayla. We joke about her “clown face” when she’s been in the sun too long – her face turns red just like mine, but with a white ring around her lips. She hasn’t thrown up after a hike yet, but she also doesn’t usually go on any that are too physically draining.
Started Too Late
At Theodore Roosevelt, there was a nature trail in the Painted Canyon area that sounded really cool. It was a warm day and we should have done the trail immediately after arriving in that area of the park rather than exploring the visitor center and gift shop there. But we didn’t, and took off down the steep path in the noontime sun.
The trail was very neat, but also very exposed. It wasn’t a very long trail, but there were only a few shady spots along the way, and since it went down first we had to come back up after we were already hot and exhausted. I was fine pushing through (I was used to this kind of thing, after all), but Mikayla was having a really hard time. Even though we drank lots of water and stopped in the shade wherever we could, the majority of the hike was a plod to reach the end.
Was It Worth It?
Needless to say, we all made it back up to the air conditioned visitor center. No one (including me) even threw up! But we did not have nearly as much fun on that hike as we had hoped. I remember a few cool geological features we saw, but mostly I just remember how hot it was and how bad a headache Mikayla and I had. And how we had to spend even more time in the air conditioned gift shop when we could have been enjoying other areas of the park, just to get our bodies back to equilibrium.
I wonder why I wanted to do the hike so badly, even though we knew it was too hot to be enjoyable. Is it because I had read about it and had my heart set on going into the Painted Canyon? Is it because I wanted to see the features described on the informational signs and trail guide? Is it to say I did? I do remember giving the girls the option to go or stay (others in the group wisely skipped it in favor of air conditioning), and they chose to come with us. But at their age (9 and 6 at the time), how much did they really see it as their choice?
Overcoming FOMO
As we learned in Glacier, a forced change of plans can make for a grand adventure. Nothing in Theodore Roosevelt forced us to change our plans, but we could have easily chosen to listen to our instincts and skip the hike. We wouldn’t have missed anything life-changing, and we would have had more time to do other things or simply rest at camp. Thankfully, we cooled down enough and were able to enjoy a really spectacular remainder of our time there. But I hate that Mikayla’s and my memory of the park is tainted by our ill-advised trek in the sun.
One positive that came out of this experience is recognizing that I am not alone in my sun-sensitivity. Seeing the effect of the heat on my daughter made me realize that just pushing through, as I typically do, is not necessarily the best way forward. Recognizing and taking care of her needs helped me see my own in a new light. And maybe remembering this hike will temper the serious FOMO I get every time I go somewhere new. I can’t see it all. I can’t do it all. And that’s okay. Choose wisely. Choose well.
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