The presentation describes a backcountry, off-trail hike I did at Joshua Tree National Park in August 2024. It would have been a challenging but pleasant hike with one night, if it hadn’t been for the extreme heat I encountered. The environment is dry, beautiful, and rugged with some scrambling and climbing involved, culminating in a peak of a minor mountain range. Besides landscape, I took some pictures of plant and animal wildlife. Despite mostly good preparation, it turned out that 110 F make such a rugged adventure near lethal. I obviously survived, but just barely, and I think this experience makes for an interesting, thrilling and maybe informative story of hiking in extreme heat.
Bio
I grew up close to the Alps and have considered nature and mountain hiking as among my greatest pleasures from early on. Combined with my love for traveling, I have completed many interesting and challenging trips around the world, inclusive some remote field work as a wildlife biologist. I enjoy wilderness and remoteness and sometimes inadvertently push a little bit too hard, for the sheer pleasure of enjoying these places, not for thrill seeking or trying to prove anything.