I tested my resilience to heat in an extreme hike up a dry river canyon near Côte d’Azur.
You have three basic needs to fulfill in a survival situation: Shelter, water, food. In that order. But when we talk about shelter, we often worry about hypothermia and less about hyperthermia (overheating). Two years ago I was in Cannes on business during one of the most extreme heatwaves lately. France had a heat wave sweeping the country at the time so people were advised not to seek outside. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn more about my own performance under extreme conditions. It turned out I did learn something.
My day started early in the morning with a cup of coffee and a croissant at Boulevard Jean Hibert in Cannes. I was a complete misfit as I sat there in my hiking clothes among the chique people of Cannes. Other than that I kept my manners and soon after I was on a bus out of town. I had somewhere to be at six o’clock that evening, other than that I had the day off. Cannes and the rest of Côtes d’Azur is located at the foot of the westernmost part of the Alps. It’s a scenic place. I got off the bus in a small town a bit outside of Cannes and immediately started moving up into the mountains. The vegetation was typical for this climate. Lush but super dry.
My goal for the day was to reach a point in the Tanneron area as if it was a pickup point I had to reach. I was very focused on staying safe despite venturing out into an unknown area by myself. I always aim to locate shelter, water, food as well.
It didn’t take long before I did my first discovery, an Opuntia cactus. This cactus looks hostile but it’s your best friend in a survival situation. The fruit of Opuntia or “prickly pear” makes for a great survival food. It’s moist, sweet tasting and it contains lots of vitamins, fibers and antioxidants. You need to beware of the hairlike spikes on the fruit however. They can cause a long lasting pain and skin irritation. The easiest way to get rid of them is to burn them off over open fire before you peal off the skin. If you don’t have a fire going you can carefully scrape them off using a rock or the like. That’s what I did here. I found a couple of flat rocks to grab the fruits with. And after scraping off the spikes I simply opened up the fruit and ate the flesh inside of it. The peel is quite tough and inedible.
Opuntia cacti carry a lot of fruits and they come in a variety of colors from yellow, orange, red and purple. The darker the color the sweeter they are generally speaking. They’re not quite ripe when green but they still taste sweet. Don’t eat too many a day however. As with many things they can upset your stomach when eaten in bigger quantities. You can also eat the pads. They don’t come off as easily as the fruit but they are much richer in vitamin A and they contain 85% water. No wonder this plant is so well protected by thorns.
I don’t enjoy hiking on trails much and I soon found a suitable alternative which would also keep me out of direct sunlight for a while. A semi dry river canyon with a bit of clear water still running at the bottom of it. So despite temperatures near 40 °C (104 °F) I had already managed to locate both shelter, food and drinking water.
As I began my hike up the canyon I had to climb some big boulders and steep slopes. You quickly forget just how hard it is to hike through a rough terrain if you don’t practice it regularly. If the elements go against you or if you’re not carrying the right gear it will become even harder. In mountainous terrain it’s not so much how far you travel but how many height-meters you climb that will wear you out. And vegetation of course. It didn’t take long before I came to a place filled with thorny bushes. It was impossible for me to squeeze my way through them in just a t-shirt, so I had to use a big stick to push away the branches with as I made my way through.
My t-shirt kept getting caught up in thorns and I thought to myself how obvious it is that people who make it out of a survival situation alive always look battered and bruised. You literally have to manhandle nature when you’re out here in the rough. I made it through with my t-shirt in more or less one piece however. But that was just the beginning.
After some time I came to a small pond in the middle of the ravine. The water was muddy and full of vegetation so you couldn’t see what was in it. I’m always a bit wary when I step into unfamiliar water with my bare feet, but I had to take off my boots to keep them dry for the rest of the climb. If you have ever tried hiking with wet boots you know it’s not desirable. It will give you blisters in a heartbeat. Over the last 15 years I’ve studied survival cases from all over the world. One of the things that strike you is how many people end up losing or breaking their gear, clothes and even shoes. Then hiking through the rough is suddenly a whole other deal.
It was great cooling my feet in the pond but I was happy to be able to put my boots back on after the muddy experience. It didn’t take long until I encountered my next challenge however. This one turned out to be a bit more demanding. I found out that the canyon was completely blocked by debris and an even thicker brush further up. I didn’t bring a machete and I was wearing only shorts and a t-shirt, so there was only one thing to do. This was the end of my canyon hike. I had to climb up the side of it and continue my hike on the edge along the canyon. It was a steep and quite dangerous climb with loose ground and a 30-40 meter vertical drop towards the bottom in some places. Not my most comfortable moment. Luckily there was a lot of trees I could hold on to but I had to stay very focused. I checked every step I made and tested every tree I held on to before putting my trust in it. According to the metadata on my photos it was a total climb of 62 heightmeters.
A quick warning: Going into a canyon can be extremely dangerous even if the weather is fair. A flood can come quickly from rain further up the mountain or from the day before. The danger is not just the water itself, it’s the strength of it and the debris that it carries with it. I had checked out the weather forecast ahead of my trip and this place had experienced extreme heat for weeks. I continuously scouted for emergency exits out of the canyon as I moved my way up the mountain. The advantage of hiking a canyon however is that you’re more likely to find drinking water. It’s also cooler at the bottom of it and you are less exposed to the sun, but now it was over.
As I made it out of the canyon I immediately felt the heat of the sun. Although it was more windy up here it was also extremely warm. But that’s what I bargained for when I decided to venture out on this hike. My t-shirt was soaked in sweat from the physical activity the climb had offered me. It really helped me cool down but I also knew that it could become dangerous after sunset. “Cotton kills”, they say but right now it was “cotton cools”. Water cools you down 25 times faster than air, which is great when you need it. But cotton also stays wet, so if the weather changes or the night falls with cooler temperatures, you are at risk of hypothermia – even in hot climates. I had brought some warm clothes and plenty of water however – just in case. As I progressed towards the top of the mountain trees became scarce and the sun became hotter. I made sure to sit down in whatever shade I could find and drink lots of water. The mountain was taking a toll on me. It was super steep and in many places you had to go around dense vegetation or small canyons. I kept drinking but I still hadn’t peed.
After 2 hours I could finally see the spot I had pointed out on Google Maps at home. The problem is that once you see your end goal you tend to mentally give up fighting beforehand. So the last few hundred meters were a struggle to me. The view from where I finished my hike wasn’t particularly great but I didn’t come for that either. So what did I learn about myself?
Never during the hike did I feel out of control or in danger except for the climb up the side of the canyon but as I turned around and began to head down the mountain I had to pee for the first time and I had to pee like crazy. That’s when I realized how exhausted I really was. It looked like I was peeing coffee. A sign that you may be suffering from a heatstroke. I sat down in the shade and waited for a while as I drank some more water a little at a time. The feelings that went through my mind were a mix of relief and worry. I was fine but I realized that I might have failed to recognize the signs of a heatstroke. I learned that feeling fine doesn’t necessarily mean you are fine. You need to actively pay attention to your own well being. I was happy to head back down the mountain with success.
The descent was really beautiful with a complete view over Côte d’Azur between Cannes and St-Tropez. I found a couple of really beautiful pieces of rock with shiny quartz-like parts in them. I brought a couple for my kids and one for a friend who is into stones.