This is the view from the summit of the highest peak in the Maritime Provinces in June of 2007. Hiking Mount Carleton in New Brunswick, Canada, proved to be too much for me this day and, for the first time in my life, I experienced a sudden but mild case of (self-diagnosed) heat exhaustion. I was light-headed and my heart rate increased dramatically. I also had very rapid, shallow breathing and as a consequence my fingers started to tingle from lack of oxygen. I wasn't alone so I never felt like I was in any danger (bless my ignorance for keeping me calm and analytical). It was actually an interesting sensation since I'd never felt anything like it before and I said so. Eventually, we located, and I sat down in, the shade of an outcropping of rock (as much shade as we could find so close to the top, early afternoon). I drank some water, and ate an apple while I waited, embarrassed, until I could finish the climb and take photos. Not very high on my short list of finest moments, to be sure, but to be fair it was a cloudless 30ºC (86ºF) and the trail was 4.4 km (2.7 mi) one way, and ascended over 800 meters (2625 feet). I just have to learn to drink and rest more often when hiking in those kinds of conditions which shouldn't really be a problem given how innately lazy I am. (Sony, DSLR-A100, 28mm, f/9, 1/200, ISO 100)
No comments:
Post a Comment