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Welcome to the home of Grand Canyon hiking. The Grand Canyon Hiker Dude Show helps hikers plan, train for, and better understand hikes below the rim, from short day hikes to Rim-to-Rim, Rim-to-River, Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Trail, South Kaibab Trail, North Kaibab Trail, backpacking trips, heat safety, water planning, shuttle logistics, and more.
Host Brian Speciale shares Grand Canyon stories, trail-tested advice, safety lessons, interviews, and community wisdom from first-timers, seasoned hikers, rangers, Canyon insiders, and everyday people who have learned powerful lessons below the rim.
Whether you are planning Rim-to-Rim, dreaming of Phantom Ranch, preparing for your first Grand Canyon hike, or looking for honest stories of triumph, tragedy, mistakes, and trail-won wisdom, this podcast will help you hike your best hike.
Listeners call the show “an invaluable resource,” “the perfect mix of inspiration, realistic caution, and tips for success,” and “a welcoming place and wealth of information.”
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The last thing I really remember is, like, just calling out for my mom and my dad, like, something's wrong. Something's wrong. I don't remember anything after that getting life lighted out, getting treatment in the emergency room. I just remember waking up in the ICU.
Zeena:You're listening to the Grand Canyon Hiker Dude Show, the voice of Grand Canyon Hiking, presented by Hiken. Hiking packs and gear built to help you hike your best hike. Here's your guide, Brian Special.
Brian:Well, heat is and likely always will be the number one killer of Grand Canyon hikers. We lost four in June of this year on the corridor trails, and while it's the deaths that get the headlines, well, there are many more heat related rescues the park is forced to carry out, and then countless other stories of those who didn't require intervention, but had miserable experiences because of the heat, and especially that solar load, the sun exposure that goes with it. Back in May, one of those stories that often goes unnoticed, a 20 year old on a long planned hike with family and friends that was meant to span six days and more than 60 miles of off corridor hiking below the North Rim. But for Maddie Bynier, a dental assistant from Scottsdale, it ended after just one night with a helicopter rescue, a month in the hospital, and a fight for her life. This is the Grand Canyon Hiker Dude show powered by Hiken.
Maddie:So basically, my younger sister is going off to college, and so it was like the last family kind of get together that we were thinking of doing. My parents have done this hike before. My grandpa has done this hike many times before, and so I have been training, my dad gave me like a list of workouts to do, I was doing Camelback Mountain every weekend, just kind of prepare for that incline. Big hike. Yeah.
Brian:What was the actual hike that you were doing? Because this wasn't anything on the corridor trails. You guys were in a really remote part of the canyon. What was the plan? And there were nine of you, right?
Maddie:Yes. There was nine of us. It was me, my younger sister, my two younger brothers, my mom, my dad, my grandpa, and his two friends. And so they had also done this hike before, his two friends. So they were able to help us out a little bit, just kind of preparedness wise.
Brian:So what was the hike that you guys were doing?
Maddie:Oh, the hike we were doing? It was Thunder Mountain Deer Creek off the North Rim.
Brian:And you were gonna be out there for a long time was the plan.
Maddie:Yeah. We were planning to do about 60 miles in six days.
Brian:60 miles in six days. Wow. Yeah. That is a that's a big big hike.
Maddie:Yeah. Big stretch.
Brian:Yeah. Okay. So this is a man, what a what a family adventure this is this is setting setting up to be. So what were you guys feeling? Was everybody excited, raring to go?
Brian:Because this had been planned for a while, obviously, you'd been training for it. It's not like it was a last second thing. There was a lot of thought that went into this.
Maddie:Yeah, for sure. We just kind of started out training for a couple months and I was kind of going in with the mindset, Oh, if my 12 year old brother can do it, I can do it. And so we just kind of started easy on the first day. We didn't hike that much. I think it was seven miles the first day.
Maddie:We got there a little later and that's just when we started going down into the canyon. So we got most of that done with, and we had one more longer stretch. The next day when I had my accident is when we were gonna kinda finish going down into the canyon.
Brian:So had you guys made it down to to the river? What was the what was the goal that day?
Maddie:So the goal on the first day was just to kind of get to camp. Kind of get into and pass one of the, like, plateau points and the second day, we were just planning on going down to a river and it had this big tree and from where I fell, I could see the tree, I could see my mom and my sister filtering water. And so, like, it was like a mile of no shade where me and my dad had kind of fallen away from everyone and we had run out of water and we had passed some down into the Canyon, but my dad and my brother had to go back up to the cars because my mama's food got taken out of her pack by one of someone else in the group. We're not sure how it got out of the pack, but she was
Brian:Her food her food did?
Maddie:Yeah. Her food.
Brian:Oh my gosh. Like,
Maddie:all her dry meals, all of her snacks, everything was still in the car.
Brian:So how far down were you when that when when you guys realized that?
Maddie:I think we were seven miles
Brian:Oh my gosh.
Maddie:The Canyon. And so it
Brian:Okay. Okay. Like You gotta tell us. I know this is a family this is a family affair. What was that conversation like?
Brian:There had to be a there had to be some rather unhappy people, especially ones that had to hike back to the room.
Maddie:We had all set up our tents, and my sister and I were sharing a tent, and we had just crashed. And we didn't even know about this till in the morning when my dad was like, guess what I did last night? So, yeah, he took my brother with him because my, I guess, I don't know, my brother is more in shape, I guess, and quick, good at he's a good hiker and so my dad was like, we could just go up there together and make sure we're both safe, you know. And my brother was just having the time of time of his life, like, taking pictures of a bunch of scorpions that he saw, a bunch of, like, little night creatures and he's like, it was so fun. We like chugged monsters when we got up to the top because they had realized this at, one in the morning.
Brian:Oh my gosh.
Maddie:And so they didn't get, like, any sleep at all. So that that was funny the next morning when my dad just, like, because that we had also gotten a later start that day because of that. And my grandpa and his friends just packed up their cans and left and they didn't say anything and we were kinda like, okay. It would have been nice if we could have all started early, but that's okay. Oh, wow.
Maddie:So we started, I think, closer to 09:00 and we were planning to start more, like, thirty or something probably earlier. And so the second day, it was mostly flat until we got to what my mom calls the Wall Of Insanity on this trail, which is it's just switch back after switch back, steep. Like, we had met a couple hikers that were going up and they were like, oh, man. I'm just not looking forward to going up. And that's kind of where the group broke apart is after the flat because we had stopped and everyone had eaten a snack and I didn't make the smart choice of eating a snack which I think is also what contributed to my accident and everything.
Maddie:But I was just like, don't wanna take my pack off. Like, I'm tired. I just wanna keep going.
Brian:How long was this day supposed to be? You did seven miles the first day. How far was
Maddie:the second day? To be 10 Okay. Or something that day.
Brian:Yeah. And how far into it were you at this point?
Maddie:At this point, I think we were 10 miles into the canyon. We were not very far from where we were planning to go.
Brian:Okay. So you've gone you've gone probably you've gone a few miles on the second day. So you're about 10 miles below the rim now.
Maddie:Yeah. Okay. Mhmm.
Brian:And you guys got the late start and that means that the sun is probably above It was in the mid mid eighties maybe at that point. Mhmm. Yeah. So what so what were you feeling? You said you were starting to get tired.
Maddie:Yeah. So after the wall of insanity, I had just not been feeling good. I was trying to drink electrolytes that we had packed in and just trying to keep up hydrated because that was something that I was worried about is heat stroke and me and my dad had run out of water, like, right at our last shade spot and one of my grandpa's friends was telling us, oh, this is the really, really long stretch where it's about a mile and it just feels like forever with no shade. And we told them to go ahead before us and tell everyone who got to the river first to start filtering water and bringing it to us because we had run out at that point. And so we started going and I was like, oh, I just really don't feel good.
Maddie:Like, I like, we couldn't just stop because it was so hot.
Brian:Well, tell us Maddie, us what you were starting to feel at that point. You because something didn't feel right. Had you ever had issues with the heat before?
Maddie:Not this badly, how badly I felt. I was getting, like, I was panicked. I was really hot. It's like I couldn't cool my body down.
Brian:So you could tell. You could really
Maddie:Yeah. I could tell something was wrong and I kept telling my dad, was like, there's something wrong. Like, yeah. But you can't stop. You just have to keep pushing.
Maddie:You have to keep going. You can't turn around. Like, there's no shade back there either.
Brian:Well, what was your dad saying at this point? Because it's you and your dad who have fallen behind the group. Mhmm. You're you're feeling terrible. I don't know how he's feeling, especially having Yeah.
Brian:Hiked back out to the rim and back Mhmm. The night before and and on basically no sleep. Yeah. What what's he saying to you when you're telling him you're sick? I mean, it's your dad.
Maddie:Right? So Yeah. He What's he saying? Feeling the same way. He was like Oh.
Maddie:He wasn't feeling good. Either you think he might have had a little bit of heat stroke just because of what he was communicating with us as much as he could. Yeah. He was just having some of those symptoms that I was having, but he got over it pretty quick with the access to the river and stuff. And then, we got to like the top of where we're gonna descend down to the river where my brother met us with water and I was like, I don't feel good.
Maddie:I just need to really take a break. And my brother was like, I'll carry your pack. I'll carry my pack. And so you just have your pulls and just you gotta just make it down.
Brian:Were you feeling nauseous? Were you feeling dizzy? Did you have a headache? What was
Maddie:Feeling really dizzy, feeling really nauseous. And I think that's why I fell is because I was just feeling so dizzy and so out of it, and we were trying to just go fast and just to get down these switchbacks just to push and go, and I think that's where I, like, got caught under myself or my legs just gave out. I was trying to stand back up and my brother was like, I can't hold you. I have these, like, packs and things bumpy things. I was like, something is not right.
Maddie:Because I my legs, I just, like, couldn't feel them. They were like and then I was also having, like, not feeling good, feeling sick. And so the last thing I really remember is like just calling out for my mom and my dad like, something's wrong, something's wrong, I need help. And then I guess my brother got somebody like to come and I was told that they had laid a tarp down.
Brian:Well, what happened? You eventually just you eventually just collapsed? I mean, did
Maddie:you Yeah. Just happened? Collapsed. I get yeah. I guess I just collapsed and I remember, like, trying to sit up on a rock and it was too hot.
Maddie:And so I tried to stand up and my legs just were like complete jello, like they couldn't support my weight or anything and that's kind of the last thing I remember is screaming out for my parents, like for help, you know? And they were took off my shoes, they took off my son long sleeve shirt and they were just pouring water over me, they were filtering lots of water, just pouring it over me and trying to keep me cool until we could get some help. And it's funny because we had just passed like a park ranger and he, like, as we were coming down and he was like, Oh, I'm part of search and rescue or something and then and I guess we just completely missed him trying to get help and stuff but, yeah, they took off my shoes, everything. They were trying to just keep me awake in case I had a concussion or anything. They were talking to me and I was like, my dad was saying that I asked him to tell me a letter and at the time, I had just quit my daycare job and I was telling him, no, that's not the right letter.
Maddie:You have to say a different letter or something and I was going on about these different curriculum things that I had taught at my daycare, which it was so odd. Like, I had been at my dental assisting office for just about a month. So, that was kind of silly.
Brian:And you don't remember any of this, right? These are stories that you've been told since.
Maddie:Yep. Everything from after I was screaming out for help, I don't remember anything after that. Getting life lighted out, getting treatment in the emergency room. I just remember waking up in the ICU.
Brian:So tell us what you've been told about what happened in that time when you were essentially blacked out? What was happening with your parents? I mean, there had to be just intense panic in trying to figure out what to do. I mean, I can only imagine.
Maddie:Yeah. For sure. I'm guessing that they were just super panicked. My sister was trying to get search and rescue to come out or someone to come help just figure out what was going on.
Brian:Well, how was she trying to reach how was she trying to reach someone? Did you guys have satellite devices?
Maddie:No. We didn't have satellite devices. She was just walking around with her phone up in the air trying to get some kind of SOS signal and she was able to get a little bit of signal and that's how she was able to call the people to come and help me out.
Brian:How far from how far from the river were you guys?
Maddie:You could literally see it from, like, from right where you were standing. So maybe less than half a mile.
Brian:Oh my gosh. Okay. So you got that close to it and she was still able she was still able to get a cell signal, a ping somehow. I mean, that's almost a miracle in its own right.
Maddie:Exactly. Yes. And because if we weren't able to get that, like, I don't even know what would have happened. But yeah, they were just trying to keep me awake in case I had a concussion and they are trying to keep me from passing out and eventually they were able to get them down and my clothes got cut off. I don't have those clothes from the trip, which is funny because I had just bought them a couple days before for the trip.
Brian:So search and rescue, the first time that they got to you was by helicopter. Do you know how long that was after you had collapsed?
Maddie:I think it was a couple hours. I wanna say it was less than two hours, but definitely a while before we could get help. Yeah.
Brian:Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Brian:And I just, you know, I I just cannot imagine what your parents were going through at that time, what your family was going through at that time, especially with the condition that you were in, and then I assume that they knew that this had something to do with the heat. Yeah. Had they told you anything about what they were thinking at that time? Your mom, your dad especially, your sister?
Maddie:Yeah. They just were trying to keep me awake is all they were saying. They really didn't want me to go to sleep or pass out or anything. So they were asking me just random questions like, oh, Maddie, tell me a story or that kind of thing.
Brian:And they were able to keep you awake, it sounds like. Yeah. But they didn't believe you. Just don't remember any of it.
Maddie:No. Yeah. Like, my brain, I guess, blocked it out or something, which is crazy how your brain can just do that, block out those kind of traumatic events. Yeah. I don't remember getting life lighted out.
Maddie:I don't remember getting treatment in the I just was reading through my GoFundMe one day and was like, oh my gosh. All this stuff happened to me because it was talking about, like, getting a spinal tap. That's just crazy in itself, getting a spinal tap.
Brian:So you ultimately yeah. That does not sound pleasant. So you wake up essentially with the first time that not that you've been out, but you just don't remember any of it, but you wake up in the ICU in Saint George, Utah. Right? What was that like when you finally, I guess, started to to come to your senses?
Maddie:Yeah. I was just really confused. I was like, where am I? What happened to me? That kind of stuff, you know.
Maddie:And I don't really remember the first like, remember vividly the first couple of weeks in the hospital. They were telling me I was getting blood transfusions. I don't remember getting blood transfusions. And that's a big deal too. I didn't realize how big of a deal all the treatments I was getting were or how serious my condition was.
Brian:And what was ultimately the diagnosis that that you received?
Maddie:So I had basically from the waist down, my body started to shut down. So I had really bad blood clotting. I had ulcers. I had lots of blisters. I had a big blister on my foot that was, like, this big.
Maddie:I had kidney failure, liver failure, rhabdo, and heat stroke.
Brian:All of it.
Maddie:Yeah. All of it. Yeah. All of it.
Zeena:Shade can save your life. See when and where you'll have shade on your hike by using our Grand Canyon Shade Tracker at hiking.club. Sun and heat can kill in the canyon. Shade tracker lets you keep your time in it to a minimum. Our advanced technology lets you plan your hike by zooming in on your exact trail so you can see when and where you'll have shade any minute, any day of the year.
Zeena:Try it for yourself at hiken.club. That's hikin.club. And hike your best and safest hike.
Brian:Has anyone told you, in these in these past two and a half months that especially a doctor or someone who knows what you went through that you're that you that you got lucky?
Maddie:Yeah. Oh, like most of the patients that I was with on like when I was in the ICU were a lot older than me and so they were like, you're really lucky that you're young and your body is able to heal up really nicely. I had a really fast recovery, which I'm so grateful for because if, like, something like this happened to my grandpa, I'd obviously be, like, longer for him to recover. Yeah. That a lot of nurses were just like, tell me your story.
Maddie:I've only heard bits and pieces. And by the end of it, they were just, like, in complete shock that I was here still.
Brian:Yeah. And how long were you in the hospital for?
Maddie:I was in the hospital from May 12 to June 12. So exactly one month. And I was in and out of the ICU for the first couple of weeks. And then I was after everything was kind of healed up and they got wounds under control, I got skin grafts, I was able to go to inpatient rehab. And I had to relearn how to walk.
Maddie:I had to I didn't have any things go wrong with my hands so that's good that I didn't have to relearn hand function. But I did occupational therapy and physical therapy for two weeks. I'm in physical therapy now. I just have a little bit of a drop foot on my left foot from nerve damage and just the skin graft sites from the ulcers.
Brian:So still a long road to recovery?
Maddie:Yeah. Definitely a long road. I was doing hyperbarics and dialysis in the hospital and I was able to get off both of those so that was really great that I was able to not have to do this here back in Arizona. But my skin grafts will take a little bit longer to heal because they're basically like big sunburns. So that will take probably about a year.
Maddie:And they're not sure about my drop foot just because nerve damage heals so slowly. They say it's about two millimeters a month. And I have it from half of my calf down,
Brian:basically. Now as this was all happening, as you were in the hospital, especially in the beginning, obviously, you had nine people. Not everybody could fly out with you. So what did everyone what did everyone else do?
Maddie:So my mom and my sister were able to come to the hospital with me, and we were trying to give updates to everyone still in the Canyon as much as we could, but they didn't have any cell reception or anything or a way to contact them. So my brothers, my dad, my grandpa, and his two friends finished out the trip and we met them the following weekend.
Brian:What do you hope that people learn from your experience? I mean, I'm sorry you went through it, but there are a lot of lessons to be to be learned here.
Maddie:For sure. I just wish I went into the mindset of it's gonna be hard. I didn't think it was gonna be as hard as it was. I wish I would have prepared myself more with training and kind of got myself into a better mindset of because I was like, nothing bad's gonna happen to me. Like I'm prepared.
Maddie:We have all this. Like we were so ready and you just never know what's gonna happen especially with in the Canyon where everything is unexpected.
Brian:Yeah. And you were telling me that that there were some photos and video of everything that was happening as you were waiting for the rescuers and then during the rescue. I'm curious since you were so out of it, what is that like to look back on on those? Is that like looking at at someone else going, wow, that can't be me.
Maddie:Yeah. I have a video that my family took from the bottom of me getting my flighted out and it's just crazy. Like, I don't remember being my flighted out. I don't remember being in a helicopter or looking back at those pictures. I had so much water retention that my body just swelled up.
Maddie:And I didn't look like myself, and I didn't feel like myself either just because everything was so off and out of whack.
Brian:Did anyone ever tell you, the doctors or your mom's sister, that that there was a there was a chance that you might not have ultimately made it?
Maddie:Yeah. There was. While I was in the emergency room, my dad was trying to or my mom was trying to get in contact with my dad because it was starting to look like I wasn't gonna make it. And they were trying to just get him out of the canyon so if they could do final goodbyes.
Brian:Wow. That gives you the chills just to just to hear you
Maddie:Right.
Maddie:Yeah. Hear you
Brian:say that. I mean, do you have a different outlook on on life now? You're only 20. You haven't been through too much in life yet, but this is this is a big one. Do you have any kind of a different outlook or or gratitude or anything?
Maddie:For sure. I have just been so grateful for everything that, like, I've been able to do now. Like, learning how to walk. There's people on my outpatient floor or my inpatient floor that were kind of in the same boat as me and they were never gonna be able to walk again. And so I'm so grateful that I was able to have a full recovery and my kidneys are back at normal function.
Maddie:I left the hospital with better function than they thought I was going to. My liver completely healed up. Yeah. Just everything is great. My job has been so wonderful, welcoming me back, understanding my kind of situation and everything.
Maddie:Yeah.
Brian:Well, I guess the ultimate question and the the final question, question, of course, has to be, will you hike the Grand Canyon again?
Maddie:Nope. I will go to the Rims. Maybe when they rebuild the North Lodge, I'll go stay there. But probably no hiking for me.
Brian:Well, I don't know. Probably isn't a no.
Maddie:Probably. As of now.
Brian:I don't know, Maddie.
Maddie:No. Again, you're only too fresh right now.
Brian:It is fresh right now. But who knows? Maybe with perspective Yeah. You know, and and a few years go by, maybe you'll maybe you'll stand on that rim and be like, you know what? I've gotta go back and I've gotta go back and finish what I started.
Brian:Maybe.
Maddie:Maybe one day.
Brian:Maddie Meineer. As you might imagine, she has overwhelmed by medical bills and a GoFundMe has been set up for her. We will link to it in the show notes. You can find it by going to GoFundMe and searching for Maddy Mineer, m I n e e r. But again, a direct link is in the show notes of this episode if you would like to help Maddie and her family out.
Brian:Well, as important as Maddie's story is, it's just as important to know how to avoid it, and especially how to recognize how heat illnesses present, not just in yourself, but in others. Here's the Canyon doc, Doctor. Tom Myers, who spent more than thirty years at Grand Canyon Clinic and has seen more heat related cases than just about any doctor on the planet.
Tom Myers:For every person who's died from a heat, we've had hundreds, hundreds of near misses. There's so many people that just barely lucked out that they were able to survive that.
Brian:How do you recognize when someone's having heat issues? How do you recognize it in yourself, and how do you recognize it in others?
Tom Myers:As you start to heat up, our bodies we have this temperature zone that our body will try to keep us regulated at. We have a thing called the hypothalamus in our brain that helps us keep our bodies under a certain temperature, and the threshold for heat stroke is about a 104. As you climb, think about when you're ill, as you start to get a fever. You start to feel achy. You feel like you're weak.
Tom Myers:You're run down. You get a headache. You know, as your body's trying to perfuse the skin to increase evaporative cooling, you have less circulation to your gut. You'll you'll increase the circulation of your skin hugely to for evaporative cooling. You don't perfuse your gut.
Tom Myers:You get nausea. You know? So nausea, headache, lightheadedness, irritability, you know, feeling of weakness, all those things are part of early early signs of heat exhaustion, dehydration. And then as the temperature climbs, if you there's a certain threshold, mostly it's around a 140 a 140 degrees Fahrenheit, 40 degrees Celsius, that that's where you could have an alteration level of consciousness. And when you become altered, that's when you're considered heat stroke, and then it's life threatening emergency.
Tom Myers:Recognize those signs and symptoms early in yourself or the others around you. It's really a little cranky, they're they're sort of getting sluggish, and they're complaining these things like, you know, think about heat illness. Like, stop, get in the shade, cool off, try to arrest it right then and there, rather than keep pushing your luck and pushing fate, because, know, it could end up really bad.
Brian:Doctor. Tom Myers, who I know, like most serious Grand Canyon hikers, avoids the heat himself and makes summer his off season. But we know that not everyone can or will do that, and that's the big conundrum we face here. While we'll never encourage hiking in the warmer months, we also know that those are the times that people are on vacation. They plan their trips for months or years.
Brian:Phantom Ranch stays open even on the hottest days, and trails do as well. So knowing all that and being forced to accept all that, I personally feel it would be irresponsible to tell folks, hey, sorry, you shouldn't be hiking, so if you do, it's all on you. Good luck. That wouldn't be fair, would it? I think it's the best thing that we can do that we always make clear that we don't recommend summer hiking while also accepting the reality that it is going to happen, and offering up strategies and advice on mitigating the heat in the hopes that we somehow help you have your best possible chance of success.
Brian:Hike your best hike. Right? So in that vein, I asked coach Arnie to talk about some ways that you can prepare for the heat in advance if you can't avoid it altogether.
Coach Arnie:This week, we're talking about heat training, but we're talking about it coach Arnie style. And because it is the middle of the summer and a lot of people would call the dog days of summer, a lot of people are getting out there, especially if you're in my neck in the woods in Arizona. They're doing things in the heat. So let's look at some things to think about. Let's look at three questions.
Coach Arnie:One of them is why are we heat training? You know, why are we heat training? And then how best to heat train, and then what are the benefits? Well, a couple whys would be, are you planning an upcoming event, let's say, in the canyon that's going to put you in a hot environment? If that's the case, my advice is to prepare for that event.
Coach Arnie:Do your homework because I don't believe in any surprises. So you need to figure out when you're going, what's the environment gonna be like, are you in charge of the scheduling, And all those things need to be answered or controlled somehow, and then you need to put together a plan and train for it. Now here's another reason that people will heat train, and that's for altitude. If they plan on doing something that requires them to be above 9,000 feet, that's right. Above 9,000 feet, that's gonna put stresses on your body that are very similar to what you experience when it's really hot.
Coach Arnie:When you when it's hard to breathe and your blood is having issues and you're sweating, it it all the blood pressure, heart rate, all those things are the same things that we go through at altitude or in the heat. So if you plan on being in a high environment, heat training decides walk getting up in the in the environment. Heat training is your best bet to train for that. So there you go. Now how best to to heat train?
Coach Arnie:Let's look at a few things here. Get in the heat. That's number one. So if you're here in where I'm at in Phoenix, Arizona, you you get out in the heat. Now not for long periods and not to go out there and set your best time.
Coach Arnie:Easy efforts for about ten to fourteen days will really get you ready for your event. That's right. In about two weeks, if you're out in the heat for some easy efforts, your body will adapt physiologically. It's just it's reality. Just do it.
Coach Arnie:But you gotta be consistent. You gotta get out in the heat. Okay? Number two, sauna training. This is one of my favorites.
Coach Arnie:Sauna training, at least three times a week, twenty to thirty minutes. Get out, get in that nice hot, I like a 180 degree dry sauna, and you you do that for two no more than four weeks, even though I like the sauna, you will become heat adapted. But you gotta get in there twenty to thirty minutes, and you gotta be consistent three times a week. Just be consistent. Your body will become heat adapted.
Coach Arnie:But again, planning, strategy, preparation. Okay? Another way is hot baths. Some people might call those, whether it was hot tubs or just a hot bath at about a 140 degrees Fahrenheit. You get in there several times a week, immerse yourself for twenty to thirty minutes, that will create some heat adaptation.
Coach Arnie:It really does work if you wanna do it. But again, be intentional. Prepare. Okay? Another one, it's not as good.
Coach Arnie:Some people call it artificial heat. It's overdressing. You know, extra layers of sweatshirts. This is what I used to do before I really knew what I was doing. Jackets, you know, long sleeve shirts.
Coach Arnie:You know, I've had people do this sitting in their car with the heaters running. Know, where that's com that's a combination of overdressing and, you know, some heat. Okay? But it it's it is a way to adapt. Okay?
Coach Arnie:And there is some benefit to it. Another way is training indoors. If you're in an indoor gym, don't use the fans. Overdress while you're training on the treadmill on the bike. It's not very comfortable to train like that, but it does create some benefit to overcoming heat.
Coach Arnie:Okay? And here are some things to think about. What to practice. You gotta learn your sweat rate. When you're out there, you're I'm always thinking.
Coach Arnie:K? Like, my sweat rate. My that's important because it has to do with your hydration Because you wanna hydrate properly in the heat at the same way that you're going to do the event. Okay? So you wanna practice what you're gonna be doing in that hot environment, Like drinking, you wanna drink to thirst.
Coach Arnie:You don't wanna over drink because that leads to other problems, but you wanna practice that. You wanna pra even practice what you eat. Food in the in a hot environment is totally different, especially when your core temperature goes up. It's gonna be totally different, and that could throw you out of balance. It's really important.
Coach Arnie:Again, no surprises, guys. No surprises. Alright. Now let's also finish with this. Like I said, I will never tell anybody what not to do.
Coach Arnie:I will only question what are you doing, and are you doing your preparation. But even in your practice, and in the event, if you I advise you to stop immediately, cool down, if you are experiencing any confusion, any dizziness, chills, if you stop sweating, these are signs of a heat illness. Now listen. The heat is serious. In the Canyon, if you listen to Doctor.
Coach Arnie:Myers and all, it's probably the number one cause of deaths in the Canyon. Okay? Because I think once we lose our sense of bearing, we do dumb things. But before you even get there, have you done your homework? What are you what are your plans?
Coach Arnie:And if you prepared, you've done everything you're supposed to do, then you should be okay. If you haven't, then why are you going in the first place? Alright, guys. This is coach Arnie. I love you.
Coach Arnie:Let's make smart decisions, and let's prepare properly. Let's do our homework, and let's have events where we come out with a big smile on our face, and that's what this is all about. I love you. Talk to you later.
Brian:Coach Arnie Arnie Fonseca Junior, our exercise physiologist and Canyon coach. If you have questions for him, reach out. His contact information is right there in the show notes of every episode. Well, some good news. We have reached the top of the curve.
Brian:I was looking at average temperatures at Phantom Ranch, and July 27 is when the average starts declining. One zero four for an average high on July 26, one zero three on July 27. So, yeah, it's all downhill from here. Right? As we cruise toward October and November, usually the best time of the year to be below the rim.
Brian:Hey. Please do us a favor and leave us a rating and review on whatever platform you're on. I do see every single one of those, and they are appreciated beyond words. So if you could do that right now, just go do it. I would be so, so grateful.
Brian:Alright. That is it for now. My name is Brian Special, Heat or Not, encouraging you as always to go hike the canyon, take that first step, embrace the journey, and when you get there, whether it's for time goals or taking your time, just hike your own hike and savor every step in the magnificent Grand Canyon. We'll see you next time on the Grand Canyon Hiker Dude show powered by Hikin'. Support the brand that supports this show at hikin.club.
Brian:That's hikin.club.