In July 2023, a man died at Death Valley National Park as temperatures hit 121 degrees. Less than three weeks prior, another hiker became the second in two months to succumb to the heat while trying to hike the arduous rim-to-rim trail in Grand Canyon National Park. Tragic stories like these abound in the world of hiking, and they’re not just limited to summer months – as early as April this year, we reported on two Arizona hikers requiring mountain rescue due to the heat.
With temperatures now on the rise everywhere, you might start to see red flags in the weather forecast, alerting you to dangerous conditions and encouraging you to stay indoors during certain advisories like excessive heat warnings. But what is excessive heat? What are the dangers of hiking in the heat? And when is it too hot to pull on those hiking boots?
