DR. WALLACE: My friends want me to go hiking with them up a large trail over the Fourth of July weekend. What do I need to do in advance to be able to keep up with them? I’m 22 and in pretty good health, but I am about 15 pounds overweight, and I already know that I sweat a lot when I’m outside in extreme heat. This trail is in Arizona, so you can bet it will be very hot there around the Fourth of July.
What do I need to take with me on this hiking excursion? What can I do to prepare myself to avoid the dangers of heatstroke? I’ve gone on a few local hikes around my home area, but none of them were in extreme heat and none were too strenuous.
I know I need to hydrate a lot but beyond that I’m not sure what else I should do to prepare for this. What do you advise? — Amateur Hiker, via email
AMATEUR HIKER: A few quick basics would be to protect your body from the heat and to have the proper equipment. Be sure you have comfortable hiking shoes that you’ve worn enough to break them in. You don’t want to get started up a steep, rocky incline with improper shoes or hiking shoes that cause you quick blisters because you’ve never worn them before.
Also be sure to wear white or light-colored clothing to keep the heat absorption on your body to a minimum. Plan to wear a hat to keep direct sunlight off your head. Use a strong sunscreen lotion on every part of your body that will be exposed to direct sunlight, especially the back of your neck. Be sure to use lip balm as well.
Ask your friends about the name of the area you’ll be visiting and the names of the exact trails if possible. Then go online to read all you can about the trails you’ll be on. See if there are suggestions listed for first timers and be sure to take them seriously. And yes, be certain to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Ask your friends the same questions you’ve asked me here and compare their answers with mine. Then take all the advice to heart and plan to be as prepared in advance as you can.
Regarding heatstroke, be sure to not push yourself further if you experience extreme fatigue. If you feel dizzy at all, stop and seek shade. Apply cold water to the back of your head and neck to cool down. Heatstroke is a very real thing and can strike any person of any age at any time, especially during a strenuous summer hike in very hot weather in a state like Arizona.
I DON’T KNOW IF I SHOULD TELL OR NOT
DR. WALLACE: I am keeping a secret about someone who did something wrong and the issue is not only kind of big, but also quite sensitive and once revealed will cause a lot of proverbial “dominoes” to fall.
As a person concerned with ethics, is it my duty or obligation to tell someone this information? I’m truly torn over this situation. On the one hand, I know what is going on is wrong on at least two levels, but the epic fallout that will most certainly unfurl will leave a huge cloud of chaos behind it for sure.
One of the biggest issues I’m dealing with in holding this silently is that I can’t discuss it with anyone due to its sensitive nature. Therefore, I feel so alone in debating this endlessly over and over in my mind. I realize I have not mentioned to you the actual issues at hand, but can you still somehow give me at least some general advice, pointers or ideas that I might find useful to help me break out of my self-imposed purgatory? — Silently Tormented, via email
SILENTLY TORMENTED: Indeed, I feel your angst and can sympathize with the way you presently feel. But you must make a decision soon one way or the other because if you don’t, you’ll end up losing in more ways than one.
First of all, you mentioned your ethical compass. If the secret you’re aware of involves a crime, I highly suggest that you consider immediately providing an anonymous tip to law enforcement. If this secret may or may not be a crime but is one that involves something absolutely harmful to a minor under the age of 18, I also suggest you report it right way.
Start your next train of thought with the reality in mind that you did not create this situation nor are you complicit in its origination. You may, however, be complicit in allowing it to continue, so depending on its severity I suggest that you stand your ethical ground and put an end to something that you know in your heart and mind should be ended.
Look at it also as if you were one of the persons being harmed directly or even indirectly by this matter. Would you want to know the truth so that you could make informed decisions about your future life decisions and actions?
Unless the exposure of this matter would cause even more harm that currently exists, it’s likely that you will need to find a way to discreetly disseminate the information you are holding in some responsible way. The chips will fall where they may and your mind will be relieved in knowing that although it was difficult, you did the right thing after thinking things through very carefully.
Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected] To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
