How much do you really drink on a winter hike?

[DougPaul]

Vitamins containing B may also give urine a yellow tinge which you'll probably notice whether or not you're hiking that day. This can make the urine color test a bit harder to figure out.

Yes and ingesting certain dyes will turn your urine green. Also diuretics will increase your urine output. It isn't hard to know if you have been taking B vitamins or diuretics.

Nothing is perfect, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't use what you have.

Doug

 

[iceNsnow]

Thirst is one of the signs your dehydrated. Inge, gets away with one nalgene because it weighs as much as one of her legs.

Soooooo Cory, do you think that is why I keep falling down on the march back to the car? Tripping over that heavy leg?!

 

[jfb]

For the Franconia loop hike, I'd estimate that it would take me 8 hours in winter. I usually drink 8 oz. of water per hour and bring a 12 oz. thermos of hot chocolate. On that hike, I'd probably drink it all. I don't drink any extra water pre- or post- hike.

On my personal standard hike (Mt. Greylock) I occasionally weigh myself before and after to see how much water I lost and find my weight remains about the same and I'm not thirsty when I get home. On hot summer days I need to drink twice as much.

 

[expat]

4+ (2+ on the trip, and 1 before, and 1+ after)

Ever since I got a kidney stone a couple days after a three-day winter trip, I always have made sure that I drink plenty. The doctor agreed that lack of hydration was probably the precipitating cause of the stone breaking off.

Just a word to the wise.

 

[erugs]

I under-estimated, too. In the days leading up to a winter hike I try to increase my intake. During the hike, my water is difficult to reach if inside my pack, and gets too cold for me to drink if it is outside my pack for long.

 

[Rik]

Ever since I got a kidney stone a couple days after a three-day winter trip, I always have made sure that I drink plenty. The doctor agreed that lack of hydration was probably the precipitating cause of the stone breaking off.

Just a word to the wise.

I just use them to make cairns at trail junctions?

 

[iceNsnow]

a little more yellow, please

I just use them to make cairns at trail junctions?

A couple weeks ago while wandering around on the cone of Marcy in near-zero visibility, it would have been greatly appreciated if the cairns were piled an eenzy-weenzy bit higher. Could you pleeeeeeeze throw a stone on some of those cairns while your out there?!

 

[Little Rickie]

I chose 3-4. I down one before hitting the trail, carry three and try to have 1-1.5 for the hike down.

Post hike could be 2 more if I haven't peaed much and then beer. I'll sleep with a full bottle as well just in case I drink too much beer.

I think it's easier to get dehydrated in the winter than the summer

 

[Viewseeker]

most of my hikes in the dacks, i now carry a 3L pouch and 1L gaterade. I really keep hydrated. Much easyier now i can sip at mt own pace with the bladder.

 

[jniehof]

(should be at least ~.5 liter total)

I've been told (by doctors who would know) that average bladder size in humans is 500cc--that's chock-full can-maybe-hold-it-another-minute. Wikipedia (bastion of reliable medical information) claims 400-620cc until you start getting into exceptional circumstances, and that the urge to go starts at about 25%. I think "at least .5L" is overstating if it's meant to be per occasion. According to my nighttime Nalgene, 300cc is about the point where I can't sleep until I take care of business.

I'm in the 3-4L camp, 2-3 on-trail and 1L before. I tend to keep a glass of water by me in the frontcountry and generally find I'm happier if I'm constantly sipping (even though it involves more trips to the restroom.) Personal experience aside, it seems a lot of the usual claims about hydration have little to no backing.

 

[DougPaul]

I've been told (by doctors who would know) that average bladder size in humans is 500cc--that's chock-full can-maybe-hold-it-another-minute. Wikipedia (bastion of reliable medical information) claims 400-620cc until you start getting into exceptional circumstances, and that the urge to go starts at about 25%. I think "at least .5L" is overstating if it's meant to be per occasion. According to my nighttime Nalgene, 300cc is about the point where I can't sleep until I take care of business.

Sorry, my wording was ambiguous--I was referring to the total for the day. One liter or so is a good goal.

People might find peeing into a measuring cup (at home) to measure the volume of a full bladder instructive. 300-350 ml is generally about my max. Since one doesn't always wait until one's bladder is full, 4-5 times a day should total up to somewhere near one liter.

When I was in the hospital, they measured and logged every drop...

Doug

 

[Kevin Rooney]

... Personal experience aside, it seems a lot of the usual claims about hydration have little to no backing.

That's a good link. Have read numerous articles recently on adequate hydration levels along with the myths re: caffeinated drinks. The Snopes article summerizes both issues well - thanks for posting it.

It still means most of us need to drink 3-4 liters/quarts immediately before/during/after a hike like Lincoln/Lafayette. After such a hike I find I drink a couple of quarts of whatever with my meal. But, what you drink - whether it's water, coffee, tea, gatorade, OJ, whatever - it's the fluid that's important, and less what it does/does not contain. Our bodies will determine how much of it to use, and excretes the rest.

 

[JohnL]

For a minute there I thought this thread was renamed to "How much do you really pee on a winter hike?" but I see there is another continental drift happening here.

For 'normal' length winter hikes, I take a one-litre nalgene plus a 24 oz thermos. My breakfast and ride up drink usually consists of a litre plus another litre on the ride home. I'll not bore you with my pee statistics.

My winter drink intake is not much different than my summer intake; about one litre per 5 1/4 miles or 20 miles per gallon. YMMV.

JohnL

 

[Mr. X]

I drink a ton, probably cause I periodically drink regardless if I am thirsty. I think I have a drinking problem!

 

[Little Rickie]

Sorry, my wording was ambiguous--I was referring to the total for the day. One liter or so is a good goal.

I can get up in the middle of the night and pee a liter easy. I know because I have a two liter pee bottle. I upgraded because it was to difficult to stop my pee when the one liter bottle was full.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Interesting results. A nice bell curve has emerged.

There was an assertion of "minimum 26oz per hour of exertion (uphill)" made in another thread. It took me, last time around, 3:15 to go up OBP to Lafayette - trail was broken, plus another 30 minutes to ascend Lincoln, so 3:45 (3.75 hours) of uphill / exertion.

3.75 hours * 26oz per hour / (33.8 oz per liter) = 2.9L. I drank slightly more than 2 additional liters for the day, but could have easily made it through on < 2. I peed plenty of times too. By the requirement I should have had only

2L * 33.8 oz/L / 26oz/hour = 2.6 hours or 2:36 worth of properly-hydrated ascending.

24 said 1-2L and 8 more said 0.5-1L, (out of 63) so almost half said they did/would drank considerably less than 26oz/hour. Some portion of the next bucket (2-3L drank less than 2.9 liters)

only 12 drank at least the 2.9L recommended minimum.

So either the assertion of 26oz / hour is wrong, or the assumed time range of 6-7 hours (and 3:45 for ascending) is wrong, or 5/6ths of the respondents are dehydrated according to this "rule".

Thank you for your participation.

Tim

 

[Little Rickie]

OR I think if your in good shape, slim and light weight then you'd drink less water then an old, out of shape, tub of lard like me.

 

[cushetunk]

So called hiking "rules" like the hydration rule just seem silly to me because they imply that hiking is some form of extreme physical activity when it is really just... walking. Come on; I mean, we're built for this. I imagine that both our evolutionary ancestors and our more recent ancestors were accustomed to working far more strenuously than the equivalent of what we consider a "strenuous hike," and on a daily basis. I also doubt that they always drank 26 oz. of water per hour.

There may be endurance athletes or extreme hikers who are really pushing the boundaries, but for someone who is in good shape I don't think that a little walking uphill would be putting us near the edge of our physiological capabilities.

For an interesting and somewhat related read, check out the book Why We Run by Bernd Heinrich. It's about running obviously, not hiking, but I think his approach applies to both. Also, you'll discover that he has some... um, non-mainstream views on the subject of hydration, which involve copious amounts of coffee and beer. All based on scientific experiment, of course.

 

[andrewb]

There is no reason to doubt it varies widely by person. I usually drink, say, a gallon on a hike and my friend Evan will have less than a quart. He is not even thirsty but I could actually still drink more. It has a lot to do with how much you sweat, and I always sweat. Even down to zero degrees F on the way up I am wearing a t shirt under an unzipped shell and am still sweating a lot, while most others are really bundled up.

There is no one rule that could possibly encompass every hiker. Each person has to find their own balance and for me it's drink a lot of water and often, keeping an eye on how much water is left vs how much hike to go. Yes it is a pain to stop, drop pack and get water bottles buried in your pack during the wintertime, but the alternative is leg cramps, headaches, and a general sapping of energy.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

There is no reason to doubt it varies widely by person. I usually drink, say, a gallon on a hike and my friend Evan will have less than a quart. He is not even thirsty but I could actually still drink more. It has a lot to do with how much you sweat, and I always sweat. Even down to zero degrees F on the way up I am wearing a t shirt under an unzipped shell and am still sweating a lot, while most others are really bundled up.

You wear a shell? I just wear the (long-sleeve) shirt. I've seen folks in a just tank top on some trips. Oh, and I drink 2-3X what my friend Larry drinks. This is true for cycling, XC skiing and hiking.

This is exactly my point - there is not a rule, one size does not fill all.

Tim