Death Hike

I have decided to give up on my attempts to run out here because unless I get up before the sun rises or run in the dark at night, there is no way I am going to get a decent amount of exercise without taking the risk of heat exhaustion.  Today I tried an hour-long hike instead.  

At 9am I set out in the same general direction I had ran two days earlier- heading west down the dirt track past the rubbish tip to the airstrip.  For the first half of the hike I mostly followed the track, cutting out into the bush land once in a while and picking out some very cool rocks to take back.  By the time I was about a half-hour away from the roadhouse, I was beginning to feel a little off.  Despite the fact that I had a hydration pack with 2 liters of water and head covering, I was noticing that my body was getting very angry with me for submitting it to the elements.  My fingers began swelling to the point where I had to remove my ring and I had sweated through my tank top at all the points that were in contact with my pack.  The rest remained dry because the hot wind evaporated it before it had a chance to saturate.  My hike was only an hour long but when I got back to my little air-conditioned bubble, I felt like I had been gone for half a day at least.  In 1 hour I had completely emptied my hydration pack and drank more from my fridge.  

I checked the weather forecast for the nearest town when I got back and it was 32 degrees by the time I ended my little trek.  The high today is 43.  I know I talk about the heat a lot, but it is such a major factor in my life right now and the strength of it astounds me.  In Canada, even when it is really hot, relatively speaking, most people wouldn't consider "wasting such a beautiful day".  Here, +40 weather is almost equivalent to -40 weather back home.  It is really inconvenient and entirely uncomfortable and it is best not to venture outside or drive unless you absolutely have to, in case you end up trapped outside.  

Tomorrow I will start on morning shift, which runs from 5:30 am to 1pm.  Perhaps an evening hike will  be more successful?  There are some gorgeous rock formations that don't look like to far of a walk and there will be much more shade available.  I don't know what I am going to do in January when temperatures can spike to 50- stay inside my air-con bubble until it cools off, I suppose!

-A.