Holy crap loyal blog followers! It has been scorching hot here in central Ohio. I remember how I used to cherish these miserable dog days of summer in my youth. Growing up in West Virginia definitely had its perks, one of my best friends and I would always take the hottest days of the year and embark on the most spectacular man day voyages that I recall. Most of these stellar trips revolved around Seneca Creek, and usually ended at Seneca Falls. We would wet wade the six mile stretch of White's Run from the road to Seneca Falls. The nice things about trout streams is that they are never usually over 60 degrees even during the hottest most humid days of summer. There could hardly be a trickle of water meandering down the bottom mountain skirted river bed and suddenly it would open up to an amazing hole that we would pull the most beautiful little trout of. All of the trout that were hidden in our little secluded piece of heaven were native to this stream and had lived their lives in the wild. The coloration of these trout is testament that God was an artist.
Although these trout usually never broke 12 inches it was one of the greatest thrills that anyone can experience. We used these extraordinarily hot days to take advantage of their natural instincts. The water levels would be quite low by this part of the summer and we could stroll up to a deep pool and catch these wonders of nature like it was going out of style. Do not think that we plucked the God given gifts from the river to keep friends and neighbors, not one of the fish that we caught from this paradise were ever kept. How could rob from this place? It was nearly a holy land and quite frankly it was our mecca. During all of our trips past the gated parking lot a grand total of 2 other fisherman were seen besides ourselves.
I am thankful that I have had my taste of the bliss that is wet wading this once unknown stream. As much as we thought it was our own personal Eden, it was not. Shortly after I graduated college I was informed that the exact location, directions to, and just how wonderful it was just happened to be published in a major fly fishing publication. Paradise lost.
The key to our joy during these hot days was the water. Heat illness is dangerous and can be fatal. Back in the day we could drink straight from the fast flowing parts of the stream and not think twice all that we brought were empty pop bottles to fill up as we fished. The heat and humidity can be very dangerous it can lead to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Keep an eye out for the heat index when you are out adventuring this is how hot it feels with the humidity factored into the equation. High humidity makes it hard for your body's AC to work. It cannot cool itself, your sweat doesn't evaporate and you overheat. Once you add in exercise like hiking or fishing you are in trouble. You need to hydrate before during and after so that you do not succumb to the heat.
Symptoms of heat illness include rapid heart beat, sweating like a pig, cramping up, diarrhea, extreme confusion and unconsciousness. To treat these symptoms move into the shade immediately, remove clothes and wet the whole body down then fan rapidly to help the moisture evaporate and cool the body. If you are able to drink, drink cool non-alcoholic or caffinated beverages. During our trips to Seneca we would jump into the pools of cool mountain water to cool off and air dry on our hike back. Since everybody knows where it is, if you guys are ever headed down through WV and you see a little mountain road named Whites Run just before you hit the sprawling metropolis of Onego, and yes it is pronounced one go, stop by and bask in the fountain of youth.
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