A midsummer's hike

Ten minutes after this article publishes, the June solstice of 2012 will occur (2012-06-20@23:10 UTC). As written in my "Survive in extreme temperatures" article published at the last solstice (December):

During a solstice, the "tilt" of the Earth is at its greatest angle in relation to its orbit around the Sun.

For astronomers, today's solstice marks the start of Summer in the Northern hemisphere. As much as I love astronomy, I prefer to view the seasons as we do our days: When the Sun is at its peak during the day, we say it is midday. In the same way, when the Sun appears at its Northern most in the sky, it is midsummer.

This midsummer marks the start of my primary hiking season. In fact, by the time this (automatically) publishes, my girlfriend and I should be well on our way to the location of our hike. We are both avid hikers year-round, but I've found that I most enjoy tackling larger summits during the warmer months.

During this hike, I am hoping to try something new. I have a tendency to push myself to find and maintain a constant pace while hiking; essentially, forcing myself to march up mountains. This time, I'm going to experiment with strategically changing the pace based on incline.

If we encounter a flat area, I hope to push myself slightly beyond a comfortable pace. When we encounter an incline I hope to slow myself to a pace below my comfort. I'm curious to observe the results on my overall performance. My goal is to keep the focus on comfort, not time or destination.

I love finding new and exciting experiences throughout the world, but I sometimes find myself pushing physically so hard toward some goal that I ignore what I'm feeling about the experience of getting there. I certainly enjoy the external aspects of the experience (e.g. beautiful views, incredible company, wondrous wildlife). I hope that this new approach to my pace will help me to be mindful of the internal experience as well.

Save your skin

In the United States, we recently took pause on Memorial Day [Wikipedia] to recognize and remember the men and women of service who have given their lives and life’s work to preserve the lives or life-work of others. For many, Memorial Day also marks the typical start of the Summer vacation season. The increase in outdoor activity, coupled with the longer Summer day-lengths [“Survival Guide: Tell time using the Sun or Moon” - INDY Blog], means more time under that bright ball of fusion: the Sun.

There’s a lot of energy radiating from all that solar activity; most of that energy is wonderfully beneficial, bringing light and sustenance to our world, but some of that energy can also be rather harmful. Today, I’m going to discuss both the costs and the benefits, so that you’re better prepared to embrace the Summer months.

First, let’s talk about the energy coming from our star, the Sun [“Sunlight” - Wikipedia]. The large majority of the solar spectrum is in the range of radio waves, infrared, and visible light. The remaining bit is made up of ultraviolet and X-rays.

Source: "Solar Spectrum" - Wikipedia

As I said, radio waves, infrared, and visible light are very common, in fact, you see visible light every day! The wavelengths of these particles are long enough that they are harmless, except to the most sensitive of receptors (e.g. your eyes). It’s really the high-energy short-wavelength radiation which we need to be concerned about, so let’s take a look at those types now.

You may have heard of Gamma rays, that highly energetic form of electromagnetic radiation which can ionize atoms and, therefore, cause damage to biological organisms at the cellular level. Scary stuff, right? Well, lucky for us, the Gamma rays generated by our star’s solar fusion are processed into lower energy radiation before they even reach the surface of the Sun. Even so, other phenomena do generate Gamma rays, but typical exposure is extremely rare and in miniscule doses. Better still, our atmosphere does an excellent job of absorbing and reflecting these and other high-energy particles, such as X-rays.

Let’s take a look at what is left in our spectrum of sunlight: ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation falls between the spectrum of visible light and X-rays, hence the name “ultra-violet” “extreme violet”. UV light is categorized into three types: UVA, UVB, and UVC. For the purposes of this article, let’s discard UVC (as that’s what our atmosphere literally does for us, it allows very little UVC to reach the surface of Earth). Instead, we’ll focus on how the remaining two types of ultraviolet light affect us on the cellular level; more specifically how they affect our skin.

All forms of UV light can damage and age the skin and cause cancer. Higher frequency UV radiation (e.g. UVB and UVC) can directly damage the DNA in our cells, causing mutations we call cancer. UVA indirectly causes DNA damage by exciting cells deeper within the body. Those cells may not be mutated, but they sure do misbehave in their excited state. However, you shouldn’t hurry to cancel your Summer vacation plans and shutter yourself into darkness. These same types of UV radiation play essential roles in our body’s natural processes.

That same skin-penetrating UVB triggers the synthesis of Vitamin D in our bodies. Vitamin D helps in the regulation of metabolism. Meaning, Vitamin D -- and other sun-generated vitamins and hormones -- are part of the process that tells your body whether to use the food energy (calories) you’ve consumed, store that energy for later (fat), and when your body should decrease its overall energy use (sleep). Some psychiatrists theorize that Vitamin D and serotonin influence mood and disposition. [“Seasonal affective disorder” - Wikipedia]

As with many things in life, we strive to find balance. Sunlight is “the only listed carcinogen that is known to have health benefits” [“Risks and benefits of sun exposure” - Wikipedia]. How can we minimize the risk of harm while receiving helpful benefits of the Sun’s light? This is where human technology and intelligence come in!

Sun protection has improved significantly since its invention. Sunscreen, in its most current form, can better withstand environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, moisture, etc.) and provide a better Sun Protection Factor (SPF). SPF, we find those numbers on bottles of sunscreen almost everywhere, but what do they mean?

The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) is a measure of protection offered by the sunscreen against UVB, which can cause sunburn. The true effectiveness of sunscreen depends greatly on a combination of factors: skin tone, amount of sunscreen applied (and re-applied), and the amount of sunscreen lost (absorbed into the skin or loosed from it by the environment and activity).

HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT SPF RATING FOR YOU

STEP 1: Determine your skin tone and “time multiplier”. Would you consider your skin tone light (10 minutes), intermediate (15 minutes), or dark (20 minutes)?
STEP 2: Multiply the SPF rating by the time multiplier found in STEP 1.
(SPF rating) x time multiplier
STEP 3: The result is the estimated time (in minutes) your skin will be protected from UVB.

Keep in mind that most people have the tendency to only apply half as much sunscreen as they should. So, you may wish to compensate for this by dividing your result by 2 or 3. Also, cloud cover can decrease your exposure to UV light, but it won’t eliminate it entirely. Additionally, reflective surfaces may increase your exposure (since you’ll get it from multiple directions). Finally, you’ll recall that wonderful atmosphere I discussed earlier, protecting us from some of those high-energy rays? Well, the higher your altitude, the less atmosphere there is protecting you.

The most important thing to remember in all of this is that it is up to you to protect yourself from harm. Remember what I said, all forms of UV can cause cancer. Be careful not to overindulge to the point where you take your skin from one extreme to the other. Meaning, if you have naturally light skin tone, you should avoid altering your skin to the point where its tone would be considered dark. The amount of aging and radiation that it would have to undergo to reach that level of melatonin would be rather unhealthy. Find the right balance and keep yourself safe and healthy.

Survive in extreme temperatures

Six months ago, at the June solstice, I wrote "a series of Survival Guides in an attempt to educate and inform readers of wilderness survival techniques". Today, on the day of the December solstice, I would like to revisit the subject of survival.

Photo from telegraph.co.uk [found via Universe Today]

During a solstice, the "tilt" of the Earth is at its greatest angle in relation to its orbit around the Sun. Meaning, the Northern hemisphere is in the depths of Winter and the Southern hemisphere is at the peak of Summer. The solstice is a time of astronomical extremes and so are the conditions on our planet. Inspired by these extremes, I want to give you some guidance in today's article on surviving extreme temperatures.

Whether freezing cold or scorching heat, extreme temperatures stress the human body to death. Though apparent opposites, heat and cold cause similar problems. The human body is a system run at a consistent core temperature, any environment outside the usual comfort limits to this system causes the body to have to work harder to maintain its core temperature.

We have at least three options when it comes to our process of temperature maintenance:

1. Change our environment/location to bring it within our comfort limit.
2. Provide our bodies with the resources necessary to continue to operate under the demands of increased work.
3. Do nothing, risking the possibility that our body will fail to meet the new demands. Said simply: Death.

Regardless of the temperature, we need to address these basic components: shelter, water, and first-aid. Shelter allows us to insulate ourselves against the extremes (option 1). Water is a necessity for maintaining our internal system (option 2). First-aid allows us to treat any damage the environment may have caused to our bodies, injury and illness puts our body at greater risk, stressing it further.


SHELTER
Finding shelter is important in both heat and cold. In times of heat, it will shield you from the Sun and help you keep a little cooler. In times of cold, shelter will help stay warm and protect you from rain or snow.

"Shelter" is not only physical standing structures, shelter can refer to clothing as well. It's all about environmental comfort. When keeping warm, remember the COLD acronym:

CLEAN - Dirt weighs down clothing, decreasing the amount of air between one layer and the next. Air is essential to insulate the body and keep in the heat.
OVERHEATING - If you overheat your body, you'll begin to sweat. The moisture will cool you faster, not a good thing when trying to stay warm. Keep things comfortable, not hot.
LAYERS - Keep your layers loose. It's important to keep your blood flowing easily. It will help to circulate your core temperature and keep your extremities warm.
DRY - Any moisture, including sweat, cools the skin and collapses the layers of clothing.

Clothing is important for keeping cool as well. If trying to stay cool, clothing will help slow the evaporation of sweat. Additionally, clothing will protect your skin from the direct sunlight. Beware not to wear too much clothing though; cover what you are able, but don't overheat yourself further.


WATER
As I said in my article about Finding Water:

You should drink about two liters of water per day (2 L ≈ .5 gal) under normal circumstances. In more strenuous situations, you should intake four to six liters per day; "strenuous" describes anything outside tolerable temperatures (21°C ≈ 70°F) or stress levels (physical or mental). Basically, drink 2 liters when you're feeling average; more if you're not feeling average.

Staying hydrated is one of the most important steps to ensuring your survival. In addition to what I've already addressed in my related article, here are some other guidelines:

- Avoid drinking caffeine or alcohol; those drinks will take more moisture from you than they offer.
- Do not eat/drink frozen water (e.g. snow or ice). If you do consume frozen water, you'll decrease your core body temperature, which your body then has to fight to restore. So, melt first!
- If trying to stay warm, avoid getting your clothes and skin wet when finding or consuming water.

FIRST-AID
Frost bite, sun burn, and exhaustion are a few of the dangers you face in extreme environmental conditions. I wrote about common ailments in my Wilderness First Aid article, be sure to supplement that knowledge with the following tips:

- Be careful with your skin. Both frost bite and sun burn are similar in their effect on the body.
- Don't ever rub damaged skin, you'll cause even more damage.
- Wear loose clothing so that you don't restrict blood flow.
- When trying to rewarm frost-bite, do NOT use hot water. Ideally, use water between 38°C (≈100°F) to 41°C (≈106°F).

Please take care in all times of year, especially when facing environmental extremes. Always try to stay informed of possible changes in weather and always plan/pack for the worst-case scenario whenever you leave your home (even if only a "quick trip").