Dehydration on The Trail Can Be Deadly – Here’s How To Prevent It
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Dehydration on The Trail Can Be Deadly – Here’s How To Prevent It**
Everyone has heard, you need to drink 8 8oz (64oz total) glasses of water a day. A helpful reminder to stay hydrated while sitting at a desk or relaxing on the couch but nowhere near the amount of water you will need while hiking all day on the trail.
How do I know you ask?
Well, I have, once or twice in my early backpacking days, failed to hydrate properly and payed a dear price. Not only was I unable to enjoy that day’s miles but I also put the burden on those I was with to have to worry about me; which, in addition to the headaches, nausea, and vomiting is not a pleasant feeling to have. I don't want anyone else to make the mistakes that I made which is why I put together this guide consisting of:
How much water you should be drinking
Hydration supplements to help your body absorb as much water as possible while you are still on the move
First off, the 8x8oz that I mentioned earlier is not even enough to account for a baseline daily water intake any more. According to the Mayo Clinic, women should be aiming for 9 cups per day (72ozor ~2.1L) while men should be consuming 12 (96oz or ~2.8L)! This is just an average though calculated based off an average man or woman’s caloric intake, size/weight, and activity level. Basically, we can use these as a floor, but not much else.
For someone like me who is 50lb's above the average weight of a US male on a good day, I use the following calculation:
Your weight (in pounds) divided by 2.2
Depending on your age do the following
<30 then multiply by 40
between 30-55 multiply by 35
>55 multiply by 30
Divide that number by 28.3 to get the number of oz of water you should drink on an average day (no strenuous exercise)
For me, it looks like (255/2.2)=116, 116x40=4640, 4640/28.3= 164oz per day or 4.9L of water, per day, when I'm not hiking or exercising. That number increases when we consider that fact that we are losing even more water when trekking up the 5th 4000 fotter of the day.
OK, so now that we have our actual estimated baseline, per day, total water consumption target, we can factor in the additional water needed while hiking/backpacking. According (again) to the Mayo Clinic, while strenuously hiking/backpacking, likely when going uphill and/or on very hot days, you *should consume an additional 40oz or ~1.2L of water per hour. For example, if you are like me and need 4.9L of water consumption per day as a baseline and plan on 4 hours of strenuous hiking for the day, you should* plan on consuming 9.7L of water in total that day. If you think that almost 10L of water a day sounds like a lot, you would be right. Though, that is how I got in trouble in the first place and the information I want to arm you with to avoid a similar fate.
1L of water weighs 1 kilogram or about 2.2 pounds. I am not recommending you start you hike with 22lbs of water in your bag or carry that much water on your person at any point unless you are in an extremely arid climate with scarce water resources.
You will consume water when eating, before you hit the trail and after as well at camp. Assume 1.5L in each of those occasions and we are down to 7L of water for the hike during the day. My recommended method is to use a 3L water bladder (except if it is below freezing, the tube will freeze and you won’t be able to use it) and a Nalgene or similar bottle that you can use for hydration supplements which we will get into in the next section. Try to drink the whole bladder before lunch/midday and plan on refilling during this break for a total of 6L consumed on the trail that day. In the northeast, this is usually not a problem but if you are in an area that does not have consistently available water sources, I would recommend hydrating as much as possible in the morning at camp closer to 2.5L of total liquids or more and carrying at least 5L with you for the whole day. This should be enough to tide you over to the next campsite without putting your body into a state of dehydration and needing to play catch-up later.
Follow these hydration guidelines* and you should stay hydrated on your next trip.
Hydration Supplements
“Brawndo has electrolytes, its what plants crave” Idiocracy (2006)
You may have heard in a sports drink commercial or elsewhere that electrolytes are important when you are working out to stay hydrated, but do you know why? Or What electrolytes are?
Electrolytes is an umbrella term that is used to describe particles that carry either a positive or negative charge (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7965369). As we talk about them through the lens of hydration, they are essential minerals that we consume, and con be found in our bodies that are used in various bodily functions such as nerve function, muscle function, and most importantly her hydration. Water is essential to stay alive but our bodies have finely tuned mechanism to make sure the right amount of water goes to the right places. A general example of this is that the balance of water inside and outside of our cells must be even. The electrolyte sodium is especially important in regulating this balance. This means, that even if we drink the proper amount of water per day, if we do not also replenish our electrolytes, eventually all the water in the world won’t prevent dehydration.
Since we are out in the woods and weight is always a concern, bringing several premixed sports drinks with us is not an ideal solution. While there are many hydration/electrolyte supplements on the market, I have found 3 three to work the best for me in various circumstances.
Liquid IV is my go to dissolvable electrolyte supplement that goes in the Nalgene. I carry 1 powder packet per day that I am on the trail and look to drink it throughout the day. Medilye are tabs that I keep in my first aid kit. They are a back up if I am really pushing the envelope and need a lot of fluids. They are also small and light enough to keep as an aid to any fellow hiker that sees to be suffering from dehydration. Lastly, I keep the Pedialyte pitcher pouches in my car for post hike re-hydration for the whole group or as an end of day solution for the whole hiking group to recover after a long day. These are particularly useful in the White Mountains or Long Trail during the summer where you are both exposed to the sun above tree line and putting in some serious miles and elevation.
At the end of the day, if you know how much water you should be drinking and properly manage your electrolyte intake, you should be able to stay hydrated and enjoy your time out on the trail.
We will go over 4 season water treatment options, rules, and tips to follow in a future post.
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