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#177752 - 06/11/13 06:16 PM Dehydration anecdote
balzaccom Offline
member

Registered: 04/06/09
Posts: 2232
Loc: Napa, CA
I had a small adventure with dehydration over the weekend...

I was working on our cabin, at about 4,000 in the Sierra, on one of the hottest days of the year, covering the lower section of the cabin with plywood sheathing. It was a hot, dry job, and i was trying to get it done in one day.

Somewhere near the end of the day, I began to conclude that it was getting cooler, because I wasn't sweating quite so much as I had been earlier in the day. The fact that I considered this a good thing is an indication that my brain was now working with an entirely new set of synapses created by a lack of water in my system.

There was a tiny voice in my brain that said "maybe you aren't sweating because you are completely dehydrated" but I didn't listen to that voice.

After all, I only had one more sheet to install. I measured the wall, and then I marked the plywood. Then I measured the wall a second time, just to make sure. And I checked that measurement again on the plywood. Yep, it looked like it would fit perfectly.



So I carried the plywood over to the wall, and held it in place. It was six inches too long.

What the heck? I measured the wall again---yep, got that right.

Then I measured the plywood.

Ah. I had forgotten to CUT the plywood.

That's when I realized that I really was very dehydrated. Two large glasses of water later, I put on the final sheet of plywood and called it a day. Whew!

And if this had happened on a trail, and I had made a simple mistake like taking the wrong fork in the trail?

That's why it's important to stay hydrated.
_________________________
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/

Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

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#177758 - 06/11/13 09:54 PM Re: Dehydration anecdote [Re: balzaccom]
Rick_D Offline
member

Registered: 01/06/02
Posts: 2939
Loc: NorCal
Was this Saturday? I'm gonna guess it was 105 and the humidity was, oh, 8 up there. Some days you just have to hang it up 'til next time.

(Down in the valley the difference between Saturday and Sunday was phenomenal, it dropped thirty degrees.)

Cheers,
_________________________
--Rick

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#177759 - 06/11/13 10:17 PM Re: Dehydration anecdote [Re: Rick_D]
balzaccom Offline
member

Registered: 04/06/09
Posts: 2232
Loc: Napa, CA
Yes it was...but at 4,000 feet, it was only a bit over 90 degrees in the shade. Of course, the part of the cabin I was working on was in the sun part of the time.

DANG! It was hot.

And yes. The next day we drove home and it was 30 degrees cooler
_________________________
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/

Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

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