How Hot is Too Hot for You? (NOT a Poll)

[Robo]

Just curious as it hits 43+ C (110 F in 'old money') this afternoon at our home in Sydney.

I would not want to be walking a Camino in this heat. In fact I think it would be dangerous.
I can't imagine how much water I would need to carry.

We have bird baths all over the garden and the local birds are all just sitting in the shade, mouths open, just panting..

I find walking a Camino starts to get uncomfortably hot above 30 C ( 85 F).

How about you? What do you do to cope with heat?

I totally cover up, including gloves and carry an Umbrella attached to my pack!

Maybe this has me thinking about walking in the 'off season' to avoid crowds?
Winter? No. I don't like the cold. Rather be hot any day.

 

[dougfitz]

Thank goodness this is not another poll. Thank you @Robo.

I am a little further inland and the temperature has dropped to 40.8 degC according to the Bureau of Meteorology as I write this. Definitely too hot to do any extended walking right now.

I cancelled a walk I had planned for today for the local Friends of the Camino when a state of emergency was declared yesterday, and I was glad that I did. It was nearly 36 degC when we would have started. Not impossible, but I think that it would have been more risky than necessary in the circumstances.

Typically, I think walking on a heat stress day, ie average of min and max temperatures is over about 28 deg C, is starting to take much more risk than is normally warranted. Here that measure was nearly 33 degC - well into the heat stress zone for today. One cannot cool down enough, and the temperature gets into the high 30s very early in the morning.

I don't know of any other objective measures - perhaps others might.

As for walking in winter, I don't avoid it, but I would rather walk in the spring and autumn in Spain, and go further north in Europe in summer. However, having walking in Sweden and Norway in summer 2018, when temperatures reached the low 30s accompanied by relatively high humidity that isn't a perfect solution. Not pleasant.

 

[RJM]

85-90 F in dry, sunny Spain I find quite nice. I'd much rather walk in that climate than cold and rainy, which I have done before on the Camino and I must say sometimes walking all day in the rain on the Camino and then retiring to a cold, clammy albergue for the night can be downright depressing. Especially when you cannot wash and dry clothing and have to venture out in the nastiness again to go to dinner or whatever.
Also when it is warm and dry weather on the Camino you can carry a very light pack. No sleeping bag and a disposable poncho at the most is all that is needed.
Just stay hydrated, which is easy enough to do with the abundance of potable water sources.

 

[Kanga]

I think the my hottest walk was in July on the meseta, when the temperature was regularly above 30 degrees and often reached 36 or so. We started very early each day, and tried to finish walking by midday. We were lucky in that it was dry heat, and most mornings there was a breeze.

 

[Mettetäti]

I come from Finland where we don't get used to be in hot weather and most of us have very white skin. On meseta, above 25 °C I struggled. In forests it was ok, but on open road it was too much. I had to wear long sleeves and pants to protect my skin and it felt very hot. I'd rather walk in cold and rain than in hot sunshine. I couldn't go to camino in summer, I always go in April.

 

[m108]

"Thank goodness this is not another poll. Thank you @Robo". And thank you @dougfitz
I walked for the first time in 2011. Since I worked in school, my only free time was summer. Hot, hot, hot. Once also 36 ° C at 8pm .... Once even Via de la Plata in July. That was really tiring, but not enough not to go again .
Up to 30° C is just fine, over 35 is really tiring, not only walking - the time you stay in an overnight stay and nothing you can do - just waiting to pass.
I am now retired and my first move was a spring Camino. And then the autumn. A huge difference. And I already have a plane ticket to Bilbao in April.
The winter Camino is also not attractive to me, although I love solitude.

 

[Walkerooni]

Walked in 38-39 by noon in June 2018 on Meseta, which was hot, but not overly so. Started earlier, stopped earlier. What can one expect—that’s what summer is supposed to feel like!

 

[Lindsay53]

45 at my place today. I was fortunate last April/May that there were no real extremes of temperature. A few cold mornings and the days were pleasant, mid 20s as I recall. Great walking weather. I have walked in 30+ in Australia and it can get very uncomfortable, but hopefully the Portugues in April will not be so extreme.

 

[Turga]

As these few posts have already shown, “heat tolerance” is very individual; the same of course goes for tolerance to cold. Personally I prefer heat to cold anytime (I will, alas, never walk a winter Camino). As long as I have water, I have no big problem walking through the afternoons in the mid to high thirties C. The only times I felt too hot were a couple of days on the Meseta, when it was almost impossible to find a place to rest in the shadow. In the heat, I walk in shorts and a short-sleeved t-shirt and the only protection I use is a wide brimmed hat. I tan very quickly and I don’t use sun protection lotion as I don’t like the “greasy feeling” and all the chemicals that it contains. This is of course a personal choice and not a recommendation.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

I'm happy wallking up to 35 C.. But I keep covered - long sleeve shirt and long trousers if it's that hot. And my wife [who doesn't accompany me] always tells me to keep up my liquid intake .... so I make sure I stop at a few bars en route

 

[wayfarer]

42c was the hottest I encountered in Bilbao many years ago but not walking, I could just about tolerate it. 36c was the hottest for walking in the Pyranees, getting up at 5 am (25c) and walking till about 11 am, this was in the Pyranees Oriental.
26 to 28c was my max on the Camino. I prefer it cool.
Edit: Its the humidity that kills me, I would prefer 28c and dry than 22c with high humidity.

 

[wjohnk]

Above 30 deg C my miles per litre (water, beer, orange juice..) declines rapidly.

 

[David]

I have walked 38-40C on the Meseta ... I found that seriously slowing down ones pace was a natural thing to do .. really slow strolling, and mentally relaxing. Although conscious of it I didn't find the heat too much, although I did find that my body found it difficult to cool as sweat evaporation didn't happen - I had my trailer so don't know what it would be like with a backpack ... - liquids in ..... carry an umbrella.

 

[Bradypus]

30C is probably the upper limit of my comfort zone. I have walked quite long distances over several days in higher temperatures than that but I do not enjoy the experience. On the Via Francigena in August when a pharmacy sign told me it was 35C I packed it in for the day and spent most of the afternoon in either the campsite swimming pool or the shower. It is probably related to my Scottish upbringing but I am much more comfortable walking in colder weather and these days my walking in Spain is much more likely to be in winter.

 

[Robo]

Above 30 deg C my miles per litre (water, beer, orange juice..) declines rapidly.

As an aside, I started on our last Camino to carefully monitor our mpg or in this case 'kms per litre' of water.

It remained fairly stable at about 10 kms per litre, and increased about 15-20% when using an umbrella to keep the sun off...

 

[martin1ws]

I was in the Meseta in August in 2018. Temperature was 35°C+ in the afternoon ... but I do not know it exactly.

It was okay most of the time. Waking up early, often before sunrise (but without an alarm clock; walking in the Meseta only with the light of the moon was one of my favourite experiences on my camino). If I had enough water, it was okay with high temperatures as well. If it was possible, I put my hat and my scarf into water... this can be done with non-drinkable water as well... and I liked it to feel refreshed afterwards.

One time I was not really okay. Between Terradillos de los Templarios and Moratinos you have to go 3,4 km (gronze). After about 1 km I ran out of water in the early afternoon. I was walking alone at the moment and could not see any other pilgrims... and I did not want to go back... and the missing 2,5km were the most exhausting on my whole camino.
And yes, if you think of risk and caminos... it is probably something like that and the traffic... not something like wild animals.

 

[Joannel]

Training in Cairns for April start. Early am walks when temp cool - 26-30 degrees, but humidity 80-90%. Good training we tell ourselves!

 

[Deleted member 67185]

Hmmmm. . . I prefer colder weather to hot.

With the cold, I can always add layers. With heat, when it gets to a certain point, there are just no more layers that can be removed.

 

[Bradypus]

Training in Cairns for April start. Early am walks when temp cool - 26-30 degrees, but humidity 80-90%. Good training we tell ourselves!

I passed through Cairns in June. Took a bus up to Kuranda, walked the circular rainforest trails around the town then walked back down to Cairns on the Macdonalds Track. An excellent walk and the temperature and humidity were fine for me. Wouldn't fancy it right now though

 

[roving_rufus]

I am in Ireland and if it hits 18C it seems most of the country has gone to the beach. Up to about 25C I can manage walking comfortably but above that I find it tough - I encounter 38C on the Portugues in a heatwave and 35C in France on the Via Francigena - it just made things tougher with early starts in the dark and reducing the distance. But then I am a fan of winter walking - have walked several different sections on caminos and Via Francigena in winter- and loved it!

 

[David]

Re that walking in serious heat ... worth noting that if you find that you have stopped sweating then you are in trouble - dehydration, same if you either are not urinating or your urine is dark.

 

[Dromengro]

Living in Caithness with summer highs of around 15° C very rare days of 20-22 are uncomfortable but don't usually last more than a day, the 25° record in '95 was just too hot. Strangely I can easily handle 25° - 35° in continental europe better, feel less hot, and sweat less. However I remember walking the Frances in 38-40s which was unbearable, although I could probably handle that heat better now.

 

[Pelegrin]

I live in Madrid that is very hot in summer.
When walking : 38 C in flat terrain and 33C up hill.

 

[Glenshiro]

I come from northern Scotland, so my skin colour is pale blue. I keep well covered, whatever the heat and make sure not to run out of water. If that happens to you once, so will you!

The hottest I've ever encountered was 40 degrees, many years ago, in Czechoslovakia (as it then was.) Too hot to do anything except lie down.

A few years ago I walked three consecutive 20-mile days on the Puy route, west of Moissac, in the mid-high 30s. It was too much. I arrived in Condom exhausted and had to take a day off.

The CF in springtime (late April, early May) is perfect. As is the whole of Europe, really.

 

[Steven B]

I often walk in the summer, I have been training in Cairns this year for the VF and trained in Darwin before walking LePuy to Burgos in Summer July/August in 2018. Hot weather walking is about staying hydrated, monitoring your body temperature particularly in high humidity and having the right gear. The right gear for hot weather walking, lots of water capacity some sections I carried up to 5 litres heavy I know but needed when over 32 deg at 36 deg you will need much more water than you think. I also use a trekking umbrella so I am walking in the shade all the time. This makes a huge difference. Know where the next water is!! I know where all the cemeteries are and water fountains to plan my distances. In rural France it can be a long way between water and also on less travelled routes in Spain. The Camino Frances has more infrastructure and water but at 36 deg make sure you have enough to get to the next available water.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

My personal favorite camino walking temperatures are anything between 45° and 70° F. Anything higher and I start losing some energy and begin feeling sluggish. I try to avoid both summer caminos...and winter!
EDIT...I don't mind when I walk in chilly weather as I tend to have more energy to walk faster, which in turn warms me up.

 

[jsalt]

Another vote of 10 out of 10 for @Robo that this is not another poll .
What was the question?
Oh yes, 36C on our hike this morning, so we gave up and found a café instead.
Looking forward to winter on the Inglés next week .

 

[andywild]

If only there was some way to see how many people like/dislike polls...

 

[Isca-camigo]

I have done about 6 days when it's hit 40c at about midday and been like that until 2-3ish, I have usually finished walking at 5pm- 6pm.
I was ok with it, I think I got lucky that I was fully covered apart from my neck, which blistered, after the 1st day.it was in the Indian Summer of Sep/Oct 2011 I had just started on a Fatima feeder route just north of Lisbon. I remember reading years ago that the Beduin under all their robes are quite cool, somehow I managed to replicate it with my kit and I didn't feel overwhelmed by the heat, I had a hat on which is essential in sunny hot weather.

Edit just read wayfarers post, same goes for me, it was a dry 40c, if it had been humid I would have been in trouble I don't cope well with humidity from about 23c upwards.

 

[John Sikora]

I'd have to agree with those that tend to droop around 30+ I find that I can't take enough water to make it workable. Even with a hat, at 33, it becomes pretty much a non-starter. Probably my diabetes doesn't help much either That's why I always have a bailout plan for each stage (meaning not walking). It also works for downpours.

 

[SYates]

If only there was some way to see how many people like/dislike polls...

Start a poll and ask just that? ;-) *ducks, runs and hides*
BC SY

 

[Sjp007]

I walked 3 years ago in July/Aug and the temp was average 33 and up...think it hit 37 one day....I’m returning this year in July/Aug. the heat doesn’t bother me too much, I just got used to sweating all day. I walked early, wore a hat, soaked my feet in every river, stream, or pool I could find....some days when there was no shade I tended to quit earlier or take more breaks....also had a bandana that I would soak with water and hang off the left side my hat which cooled me down....this year I’m bringing a neck fan, not sure if I will abandon this idea once I start walking but I’ll give it a go

 

[Camino Chrissy]

In May if the temp got up to 80° F it was often getting to hot for me in the sun. I soaked my feet in any stream I found and was thankful for any fountain to run water over my arms and soak my bandana. I can't image walking in 90+° heat and enjoying the slog.

 

[Lindor]

Training in Cairns for April start. Early am walks when temp cool - 26-30 degrees, but humidity 80-90%. Good training we tell ourselves!

LOL @ you describing 26-30degs as 'cool'. This to me would be an absolute scorcher of a day. With my pasty Irish skin, I would be like a lobster walking in that weather, and probably 3rd degree burns if I tried to walk in 35degs or over, as described by others here. Red skin and a huge amount of freckles developing on my arms would be the best I could hope for lol
I guess it's what people are used to in their part of the world.
That's why I purposely chose to do a spring Camino for the cooler weather. I don't mind the rain (I am Irish after all), but hopefully it won't be raining too much in April/early May

 

[Bradypus]

Red skin and a huge amount of freckles developing on my arms would be the best I could hope for lol
I guess it's what people are used to in their part of the world.

One of the things I noticed on my six week Australia trip last year was the large number of skin cancer clinics. Along with the insistence of tour guides that those they were leading stopped to apply sunscreen from time to time. Apparently 2 out of 3 Australians are diagnosed with some type of skin cancer by the age of 70. An extraordinary statistic.

 

[martin1ws]

... Red skin and a huge amount of freckles developing on my arms would be the best I could hope for lol
...

One of the things I noticed on my six week Australia trip last year was the large number of skin cancer clinics. ...

I have many moles (what is a risk factor for skin cancer). My skin doctor always says, that I should have no beach holidays.
I used sunscream when I started in Somport in 2018. At the end of the day the hospitalero in Castiello de Jaca said, that my arms were red and asked, if it is a good idea to walk the whole camino to Santiago like this.
Afterwards I always weared my shirt with long arms... and used the sunscream for my hands and my face.

 

[nellpilgrim]

Happiest at 0-12 degrees can tolerate up to 15 after that I turn cranky unless close to a large body of water! So late Autumn, Winter & early Spring are my perfect time for walking.

 

[Sixwheeler]

Once walking in France my Garmin Tempe showed it to be 45°C. 1) I didn't believe it was that hot but it may have been, it WAS blooming hot. 2) I was very relieved to stop soon after, the cite I was staying in had a bar attached with the walls covered with rugby club pennants so we had a LOT of common interest so copious quantities of cold beer soon made things better. (I know beer is not good for rehydration so I'd drunk plenty of water first).

My medically trained friend told me to watch my wee which should be "copious and colourless".

 

[Robo]

If only there was some way to see how many people like/dislike polls...

Needs a Poll @andywild

 

[Robo]

My medically trained friend told me to watch my wee which should be "copious and colourless".

Very true. We have these kind of colour charts in many workplaces in Australia (particularly where people work outside)

It takes a lot of water to keep your pee clear in hot weather!

 

[Stivandrer]

I stop at 30 degrees centigrade as my safe ceiling,
Luckily that leaves me so much more space walking in Spain, when anything cooler can be a safe option..

I have stopped watching my urine colour index, as I usually forget to remove my sunglasses, and so get the the scale wrong anyway....

 

[koilife]

Very true. We have these kind of colour charts in many workplaces in Australia (particularly where people work outside)

It takes a lot of water to keep your pee clear in hot weather!

View attachment 69214

I used to use a chart like that, but it disintegrated after the second urination.

 

[domigee]

I think it is when it gets over 37 deg. This, as you know, is your body temperature.... Anything higher and it gets uncomfortable.... I gave up walking in France last year in the heat wave, it reached 39deg before 10am and there was no shade. I couldn’t hack it and took a bus that took me in the Pyrenees, Spanish side Bliss.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I used to use a chart like that, but it disintegrated after the second urination.

You must have thought it was the same method as taking a pregnancy test.

 

[koilife]

You must have thought it was the same method as taking a pregnancy test.

Only test I ever flunked.

 

[Jeanne from Washington]

I dislike walking in any weather past 65 degrees farenheit. My camino starts on April 9th and I'll be thrilled if it is unseasonably cold for the next 7 weeks.Lol

 

[trecile]

Ideal walking temperature? About 15C, unless it's raining. With rain, I'd like it to be a bit warmer.

Where I live it regularly is 37 C in the summer, occasionally rising to 102 C or so. But, I'm not out walking around in those kinds of temperatures, especially not carrying a backpack!

The hottest day that I've spent on the Camino while I was walking was about 35 C, and I was happy to stop early that day.

Edit: No, it doesn't get to be 102 C here. More like 43 C

 

[Bradypus]

Where I live it regularly is 37 C in the summer, occasionally rising to 102 C or so.

That's worrying! How do you manage 102C? I have spent a few minutes in a sauna at close to 100C but only because I was stark naked and able to run away and jump into a cold shower or a plunge pool when it got too much

 

[trecile]

That's worrying! How do you manage 102C? I have spent a few minutes in a sauna at close to 100C but only because I was stark naked and able to run away and jump into a cold shower or a plunge pool when it got too much

Oops!! I meant to type 43 C.
I'm blaming the glass of vino tinto at my side.

 

[Bradypus]

Oops!! I meant to type 43 C.
I'm blaming the glass of vino tinto at my side.

In the Nineties I lived for a year or so in Germany. I took out a year's gym membership at a massive swimming pool/gym/sauna complex. The sauna area alone ran to three floors of the building. They had 80C, 90C and 95C dry sauna cabins. People would dash from the 95C cabin through the showers then jump straight into an unheated outdoor plunge pool which was rimmed with ice in January. Stark naked of course - it was Germany I did it once

 

[JabbaPapa]

I used to be very good at hiking in heat -- I remember especially in this regard a 65K day on my Way to Rome in 2000, which was towards 40°C in the shade, but a wall thermometer I spotted that day was up to 50°C. And the low to mid 30s on the Francès never really bothered me at all.

Nowadays though, my limit is at about 30/32°C, and when the heat reached 34°C in Catalonia last summer, that was beyond the limit.

 

[Bradypus]

Only test I ever flunked.

I failed Maths a couple of times. And to be honest a positive result in either Maths or a pregnancy test would have been almost equally unlikely in my teens.....

 

[Robo]

I dislike walking in any weather past 65 degrees farenheit. My camino starts on April 9th and I'll be thrilled if it is unseasonably cold for the next 7 weeks.Lol

Wow, that only 18 C. You might be disappointed

 

[Kathy F.]

One time while walking the Meseta, I realized I hadn't had enough water because I was DEFINITELY feeling the bad effects. Very tired, dizzy, sweating. No harm done, but it was a real wake up call.

The next time, I bought a plastic liter bottle of water, determined to not repeat my earlier mistake. The Meseta was as hot as ever. But the water weighed me down too much. I ended up leaving the unopened water on the side of the road, with a note telling any pilgrims following me that they were welcome to my water if needed (I also had my regular water bottles with me, the liter was to supplement).

Imagine my surprise a few days later to run into someone in an albergue who had seen my bottle of (hot) water on the side of the road, needed it, and was able to drink their fill!

For me, 30 degrees is about my limit, depending on where I am for the day.

 

[Kanga]

Yes, I agree about the humidity.

 

[camino07]

Can't stand walking in heat. I remember 1st September 2010,arriving in Lisbon to 40c. First few days walking nearly killed me. However as we walked North it cooled. Up to 20 enough for me and I live in Australia.