So who doss the heat stop from going out?

Born with severe lung deformities, and the heat drains me. I hike Sept-June. Although next year I'm doing a thru attempt on the AT, so we'll see how well I do.

Above 85 I get very unenthusiastic about getting out. Since I moved to this part of the state fortunately this is a very short period of the year. I'll go when it's snowing.

I am much more choiceful about going backpacking in Georgia in the hot summer months. Generally the summer is reserved for my Sierra treks where the heat is much more tolerable.

I don't backpack locally between June and October. I like to go on local trips around Thanksgiving and March/April/May at the latest. It's not humid here but it can get very hot like mid-90s or low 100s with lots of flies and very little water.

Hiking in the Sierra Nevadas, you complain about the heat when the air temperature stays above 45F at night.

–B.G.–

I like to hike. I just carry more water and take more breaks when it gets in the 80s and 90s.

I hike in 100+ (temp and/or humdity) — but we're all different. I hate cold temp, for example. Definitely a YMMV here.

I like to get into the mountains where it is cooler. Anything is cooler than southeast tx in the summer. Or at least anywhere Im headed. :)

a weekend not to long ago it was over 110 when i pedaled 65 miles to go hike out on a wildlife refuge (that our gov't closed due to immigrant activity), sleep a little, bag a sketch peak, and pedal back to tucson.

i'm a northern mountain guy who in the last 2 years has adapted to desert heat.

Florida is no fun to hike in this time of year. Nevermind that it's been hotter than average the last month or so – HOT is HOT around here, and the humidity makes outdoor sleeping no fun.

Critters are also much tougher to tolerate this time of year.

Cloudy, misty to slightly drizzly or no more than spitting snow, hiking or a trail bed of shale and approximately 35º. Might as well dream for the ultimate best.

The humidity here prevents my sweaty clothes from drying and makes everything I touch stick to me. This time of year is for canoeing, not hiking :D

Adam

To me there is nothing fun about hiking in the summer. Hot brutal sun, sunburn, humidity, ticks, chiggers, mosquitoes, bees, wasps. Not fun. If I can get up above 5,000 feet where it's a little cooler then maybe. But I can't wait for fall, winter, and spring to come around again!

The thing is for me is that I have to drive about 5 hours just to gain a few hundred feet of elevation let alone thousands. Nifty.

I'm a desert rat who loves heat and hates cold, I enjoy that nice blast furnace heat, it's a reminder to me that it's summer and each and every day is gonna be sunny and there's no excuse to not get out and do something active. I don't halt my outdoor activities due to the temperature, unless it's a sweltering 110F or so, but 100F direct sunlight trail runs after work around 5pm in the afternoon aren't uncommon. I just stay on top of my hydration before, during and post. I have no qualms about going backpacking in high temperatures either, backpacking in southern New Mexico is going to be hot in the day, no escape, just requires more planning in the hydration department. Nights are nice and mild though, 60's and 70's.

However, a heat index of 117 due to an excessive amount of humidity smothered on top of high temperatures? No way!!! I don't know how you folks east of the Rockies tolerate July and August.

I am not even in the Rockies where I can go up and cool off. Champaign-Urbana is build on top of reclaimed swamp land.

This is the prime backpacking season here in the Northwest. It can get very hot here in the valleys in summer, but in the mountains daytime temps are typically between about 60 and 80 degrees. Nights in the 30s and 40s, give or take. Very little humidity most days. And we tend to get a lot less thunderstorm activity than the Rockies and eastward. It's ideal really, but it doesn't last very long. Most of the prime high country around here has just recently been melting out and become easily accessible, but by late Septmeber or early October the snows will return and summer season will be over.

"I don't know how you folks east of the Rockies tolerate July and August."

I have lived in the Southeast my whole life and the heat and humidity combo make the summers truly intolerable. But I will say that underground cave touring is not a bad summertime activity. Mostly I just stay inside and daydream of October.

I'll go out day-hiking in the heat, but if it's humid, I'm not likely to go backpacking.

I grew up in the Midwest with heat and humidity, but I didn't backpack there(flew west) and then lived in San Francisco for four years, which is when I discovered BPL and got back into regular backpacking.

The economy forced a move the the East Coast, and it took me a couple backpacking trips that turned into long dayhikes in June and July to realize it's just not fun camping in the hot months here and I'm not going to force myself to do it. As the saying goes, it's not so much the heat that bothers me but the humidity. It also seems harder to find a river or lake here to camp near, which eliminates the possibility of cooling off after setting up camp.

I'll just save the funds I would've spent going on multiple trips here and spend them instead on a long trip back west.

I'm a three season hiker/backpacker – fall, winter and spring. Except for the big trip to someplace mountainous in the summer.

Anything over 85 and hiking and camping are out, not fun at all with the humidity. I see people running when it is 100 degrees and ask myself why they don't get a treadmill for the hot months.

East of the Mississippi here. I know some people don't understand when we complain about 90 degrees here verses 114 in the desert. It's that 70-80% humidity that gets ya. Your heat exchange system is rendered useless in this muck. But that's what swimming holes are for! 90-100 degrees, count me in. Destination: swimming holes of the Daniel Boon National Forest.

32 or colder and I'm not going. This is mostly because I lack any 4th season gear. I'll fix that some day.

Only problem with summer hiking is the tourist population, so I try to avoid going out on the weekends. I go out for the peace and quiet, and after Labor Day, the Greens, Whites, and 'daks all experience a mass exodus when everyone goes back to school/work. September is THE month to hike. After that, the sleeping gets so cold. I sleep cold in my own house October-April (why do I still live in northern Vermont?), never mind a tent. Not to mention, it seems the mountain clubs are busily removing the woodstoves from shelters because people are irresponsible and set things on fire (did I mention that people are my problem? :)

That said, I still love being in the mountains in the summer–beats being in town where there's traffic and asphalt. But then, I don't really sweat unless temps are over 85* and muggy. And I don't mind sweating, just bring extra water and imagine it's a great big sauna.