Thanks to record heat waves, hiking rescues have shot up this summer

Blue skies and sun might seem like the perfect conditions for a hike — but not if it's 100 degrees outside.

Hiking rescues in L.A. County have increased 20% this summer, according to Mike Leum, who oversees the Search and Rescue program at the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

“So far this year, we are having an increase in rescues, especially over the last four weeks with the super hot days that we’ve been having,” Leum said. “People don’t seem to be altering their outdoor patterns around the weather, which is unfortunate.”

According to Leum, there have not been any hiking fatalities this summer in L.A. County as a result of a heat emergency. Search and Rescue has been able to get hikers to hospitals in a timely manner either by ambulance or helicopter.

“The other problem we’ve been having is pet rescues. I was on a rescue just two days ago of a dog that needed rescue,” Leum said. “The human handlers were fine, but the dog was not able to continue.”

Heat stroke v. heat exhaustion

Leum said rescues often occur when hikers run out of water and have a heat stroke.

“Sometimes it’s just a matter of heat exhaustion — the precursor for heat stroke. You’re super hot, sweaty, your skin is on fire,” Leum said. “It’s remedied by immediate cooling actions and fluid intake, whereas heat stroke is a life-threatening situation, and that has to get advanced medical care.”

However, rescues occur for other reasons as well. The waterfall In the Eaton Canyon Nature Preserve of Altadena has drawn an increased number of people to escape the heat.

“There’s a constant flow of water; it’s a gorgeous waterfall,” Leum said. “But, people on their way back from the waterfall end up getting hurt. They’ll break an ankle, they’ll slip and hit their head."

Tips on hiking in the heat

The biggest piece of advice Leum has for hikers is not to hike from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. — the absolute hottest part of the day. Search and Rescue encourages people to hike in the very early morning or late afternoon.

Normally, Search and Rescue tells hikers to plan on a liter of water per hour, but that’s on a regular hike with ambient air temperatures. Leum said on ultra hot days, the advice is to double that amount.

“With superheated air temperature, you probably need two liters an hour, and not just water; you would need electrolytes because you’re losing a lot of that through your sweat,” Leum said.

When Leum goes hiking, he takes a big plastic 32 oz water bottle, fills one third with electrolytes and freezes it, and then fills it with water right before his hike.

“Now you have nice, cool refreshing water, and as your hike progresses, you’re getting the melt from the electrolytes, and so you’re getting increased amounts of electrolytes the longer you hike. Little pro tip,” Leum said.

Here are some more specific hiking tips from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. Search and Rescue also advises hikers to fill out this Hiking Plan Sheet and leave it on the dashboard of your car before you set off on your hike.