The “I don’t get it” thread

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

I like the quote.

I dont like getting a permits but I see the point of it. Our wilderness in california basically the whole PCT would be packed and full of poop(insert corrisponding explitive) heads doing any thing they want. Pissing in rivers, causing forrest fires, building stuff they shouldnt, dumping bodies(totally serious). There would not be any park ranger monitoring parks.

Permits are an alien requirement to me coming from Europe, at home in Ireland one does see idiots in the mountains.

>at home in Ireland one does see idiots in the mountains.

I just have to walk out my door to see idiots.

I hear you brother.

Overall this is exactly why I, like my buddy Nick, am increasingly becoming a California desert rat.

But you probably shouldn't listen to Nick or I or anyone else that goes there. Desert folk are crazy.

The desert is awful.
There's nothing for you there.
Stay in the mountains.

"I just have to walk out my door to see idiots."

A mirror works well for me…..

Really, Craig…

You shouldn't romanticize deserts. They are awful places; not fit for human habitation.

One needs to be prepared for earthquakes, boulder avalanches, landslides, flash floods, freezing temperatures, triple-digit temperatures, rabid rodents and mammals, poisonous snakes, poisonous insects and spiders, predatory packs of coyotes, sand that gets into your food/water/teeth, man-eating tarantulas, nasty large biting lizards, no marked trails, probably no water, GPS and PBL failures from military activities, and a general lack of cell phone coverage. Other than that they are just okay.

BTW, did I mention poisonous snakes and triple digit temperatures?

Nick, but it is a _dry_ heat.

–B.G.–

A term I am sure was invented by the Palm Springs Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

Over 112 it feels like some opened a blast furnace.

Over 118 the top of your shoes get so hot that burn blisters form on your feet, so we wear flip flops instead.

Over 120 we fry eggs on the sidewalk.

Over 122 the dry heat sucks the moisture out of your body.

When it hits 125 we desert rats go indoors and watch Oprah — the heat is worse than her show.

125 is the hottest I have been in — I don't what people in hotter weather — probably go to Iraq or Kuwait and do army stuff.

"and a general lack of cell phone coverage."

You might not have wanted to use a screen shot when you had 5 bars…..

That picture was taken in Palm Springs, which believe it or not is actually a city and has a cell tower :)

Don't forget the sandblasting by high winds guys. Terrible there. Quicksand too, really.

Ken,

That's true, but I didn't want scare anyone.

We really shouldn't get out for a trip in the desert together soon Nick.

We shouldn't.

Unfortunately I created an awesome two day 40 mile loop for you that has reliable water at the halfway point. Scenery, terrain variation, and history is stellar. Hopefully the desert tortoises won't attack us or we won't fall into an abandoned mine shaft.

Yeah, give me 115 to 120 at low humidity any day over 105 at 70 to 90 % humidity–wherein the sweat just pours and pours and never dries. However, i don't think i would handle anything above 120, dry or not, particularly well.

My brother was in Afghanistan last year, where the daytime highs were near 140 (yes, literally). Worst part of it was he was in the river valley, so the humidity was seriously high too.

Then again, the body adjusts. He would get so chilled when the temperature dropped to 100 that he'd have to put on a jacket to keep warm.

Last August I was geared up to do a ~30 mile 1.5 day XC solo in the Mojave when temps were 118 and expected to top 120. There was no water on the route. I packed 4 gallons of water and 4 pounds of gear.
My wife talked me out of it the night before.
Of all the things I've done, this was the first and only time she has ever expressed serious doubt and said she thought my plans were a very bad idea.
I listened and stayed home.

We'll never know…

Clayton, that is crazy… I couldn't even begin to imagine that.

"My brother was in Afghanistan last year, where the daytime highs were near 140 (yes, literally)."

That may not have been an accurate measurement, or maybe it was next to a hot vehicle. I think the world's record is about 134 F in open air (Death Valley). The ground temperature can get up to 200 F, but that is a different thing.

The previous record came from the Sahara Desert, but that recording has been discredited now.

–B.G.–

I went in a sauna once……………… that was pretty hot GICH.

So I looked up the average yearly temps for Sangin, where he was based, and there nothing like that high. More like the Mid-Atlantic summers with Southern winters.

I'll have to follow up with him on this one–I remember some pretty astounding heat, but maybe there were other reasons for the heat. Or maybe he exaggerated or I have a terrible memory.

Apples to oranges but when I was in Pakistan, temperatures hit 120* by 10am and the mercury was still rising. Unless there was a mission, the Pakistan military would hunker down during the middle of the day until the worst of it was over.

Maybe it did or didn't hit a true 140* in Afghanistan but from a general misery POV it really doesn't matter. Those temperatures just suck. I call my body armor the “Microwave Crisping Sleeve.” When it’s really hot outside, I’ll pull the armor away from my body to improve ventilation and feel a blast of heat come from the inside. Beats the alternative I suppose.

I lived in Saudi Arabia in the late '80s. The first year I was working in an isolated American-like Aramco company town in the dry desert interior. Humidity was non-existant, usually at 2-5%, and there was always a wind. After work one hot September day I crawled under the perimeter fence (which was there to keep the kids inside and the wandering camels out) to do a 3-4 mile loop-wander in the desert. I knew it was well over 120* F. I started to feel nauseated and a bit weak after a couple of miles. I checked my thermometer, and the temperature 3' above ground in my shadow was 134* F. I headed back home, and when I saw my face in the mirror, it was completely covered with a white film of evaporated salt-sweat. The wind evaporated my sweat as fast as it formed. Since I didn't feel any sweat dripping on my face out there, I thought I was doing fine. If I'd stayed out there much longer, I might have been toast.

After a year of isolated living in that desolate outpost, I was able to transfer to the oil refinery town on the Persian Gulf. The temperatures never got much above 120* F, due to the buffering effect of the 90-degree sea temperature. But was it ever humid! The worst was in September, when the usually constant north winds stopped, and the humidity hovered around 90-95% day and night. Even at midnight, when the air temps dropped to maybe 95* F, there was no way a guy could do any real physical activity outside.

I'll take dry heat over high humidity any day…even if it kills me.