[pct-l] The dangers of 'Cameling Up'

[Patrick]

It's worth noting, as all the anecdotal evidence starts flowing in, that as
a four-time thru-hiker I have never felt overhydrated and have actually had
blood in my urine from dehydration. So dehydration is a potential problem,
I would hope everyone would take from this posting that you should have a
balanced approach to hydration -- not too much, in either direction.

Joker

On Sun, Feb 10, 2013 at 2:29 PM, Aaron Doss <aarondoss at gmail.com> wrote:

> I agree, I drank too much water twice on the PCT.
>
> The first time I was a scissors crossing (2006).  The water cache was
> stocked with distilled water.  I drank about 2 quarts which you would not
> think is that much.  In ten minutes I started getting very light headed
> with extreme weakness. I made up some concentrated rehydration mix and
> drank about a cup of it.  In 15 minutes I was back to normal.
>
> The second time was in 2009.  I was hiking across the lava fields next to
> Mt Adams (WA).  There is super cold water coming from the glacier flowing
> through the lava fields.  It was extremely hot out and I kept drinking and
> drinking.  I lost track of how much I drank.  By the time I got across the
> lava I nearly passed out, I collapsed on the ground with an irregular
> heartbeat.  I immediately recognized what was happening and I felt so
> stupid.  My body was in panic ape mode, I honestly thought that I was going
> to die.  I had no rehydration salts so I tried to eat some salty snacks but
> I had so much nausea it was difficult.  I laid on the ground for an hour in
> misery and finally I had to pee.  I pissed a full bladder of clear urine,
> and in 10 minutes another bladder of clear urine, then again, probably 5
> times total.
>
> I have a hard rule now, I don’t drink more than half a liter every 30
> minutes.  This has kept me out of trouble.
>
> On the opposite extreme, I had whisky/coffee like urine many times in the
> southern California deserts without anything bad happening.
>
> People die in marathons from being over hydrated.  No one ever dies in
> those events from dehydration.  Overhydration is far more dangerous than
> dehydration.
>
> Aaron Doss
> PCT 2006
> http://www.gaiaimage.com/
> http://www.pbase.com/aarondoss/pct
>
>
>
>
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