22 Helpful Desert Hiking Tips to Know
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Loading... - stanley scarlett
- 10 Feb 2023
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Desert hiking can seem daunting. However, desert hiking can be a hugely rewarding and romantic place to go for a hike. The colors of the desert and their landscapes at times feel like another planet and the stuff dreams are made of. A hike in the desert displays the extremes of our planet and their geological features at times appear to defy gravity.
While deserts themselves may be easy to lump into one general biome their diversity is amazing. We’ve been hiking in places like the Sahara, Wadi Rum, Canyonlands, Saguaro, and the Namib Desert and each looked nothing like the other. Outside of the fact they all receive little to no precipitation, they share few things in common.
We just finished up several weeks hiking in the desert. With the release of Stanley’s new Iceflow Hydration line, we went to the hottest place we could find to test out how they handle the desert heat. After, finishing up another successful hiking trip in the desert we figured it was time to share our top tips.
Avoid The Middle Of The Day
When it comes to hiking in the desert, you want to begin your days early and end late, something we took seriously when hiking to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. We’ll start off the day with an early rise. Once at the trailhead, we’ll make some coffee with our Stanley Perfect Brew Pour-Over Set. If you’re really an early bird, you’ll get to enjoy the sunrise over the desert, which is one of the most magical experiences.
Even if you’re not at the trailhead for sunrise, an early start is best in order to avoid the peak heat and sun in the middle of the day. We’ll try to time our day to take a siesta in the middle of the day to avoid the heat. This can either be out on the trail in a slot canyon, hiking during the spring, or heading back to town for some downtime.
Once temperatures start to settle back down, hiking in the evening can be pleasant again. Consider taking a sunset hike as we did on the Watchman Trail to watch the sunset over the desert and the stars come out at night. Just be sure to pack a flashlight or headlamp for your way out.
On top of just the pleasantness, when hiking outside in the middle of the day, you’ll notice your photos will be a lot better too. Photos of the desert in the middle of the day look void and lack any color with hard shadows. So if you care about your photography, the best time to shoot is before 9 am and after 4 pm. Read More…
