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

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I don't think the danger is in cameling up exactly.

I have read trailjournals.com a few times when people are starting  
out and there are often people in the desert drinking too much. They  
feel worse and worse so they drink more and more and get sick and  
(think they have to) leave the trail. When all they need is to stop  
drinking and see if some salty stuff will help.

But cameling up isn't necessarily bad because just drinking an extra  
liter isn't what hurts you. It's drinking too much water over a  
period of time and then mistaking your negative feelings for  
dehydration and drinking even more.

It's beneficial to learn what those feelings are. For me it's  
weakness, a profound thirst that is not quenched as I drink profusely  
and a general malaise.

I like the book Waterlogged because I feel it verifies for me my own  
personal experiences which are:

a) being dehydrated isn't really that big of a deal (tons of teenage  
days laying out getting a tan with nothing to drink, then staggering  
home in a dehydrated daze taught me that long ago)
b) that whole thing about not being able to trust your thirst, that  
if you feel thirsty it's "too late", is BS just like I always thought  
it was.

Thanks for recommending the book. I still want to read it.  
Trailhacker has it.

Diane

On Feb 11, 2013, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> From: b j <xthrow at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [pct-l] The dangers of 'Cameling Up'
>
> I'm in the middle of reading 'Waterlogged' by South African MD Tim  
> Noakes.?