By Kiahna Sellers
The conditions were rough, the wind was hot, and there was no cloud cover.
Before commencing the hike, the park ranger warned the hikers that the temperature would reach 105-112 degrees.
'I knew was common and could happen pretty easy, but I didn''t take into consideration that when it''s 110 degree weather, it happens a lot faster,' said Nathan Hanamaikai, 24, a senior from California, studying Spanish translation.
To Hanamaikai and four of his friends, the 22-mile adventure at Capitol Reef didn''t appear exceptionally difficult, but certain mistakes led to inevitable disaster.
'Part of the problem is that we didn''t plan well enough. We didn''t stick to our schedule. We had planned to leave on the hike at 9 o''clock, but we didn''t leave until 11:30, about three hours too late to start a 22-mile hike,' Hanamaikai said.
In addition to the late start, a lack of preparation also led to trouble.
'I wasn''t very informed as to what we were going to do,' he said.
Hanamaikai and his friend became stranded without sufficient water.
'We thought we were around the corner from the narrows and so we went to explore. We didn''t realize that we were about 5 miles from the beginning of the narrows,' Hanamaikai said.
'By the time we got back, we had been gone about 7 or 8 hours, and we were out of water,' he said.
'Along the way, I probably stopped four times. My legs didn''t want to move anymore. I lost all of my will power,' Hanamaikai said. 'I stopped and prayed and asked for the strength to continue on and not die.'
This was Hanamaikai''s first experience with extreme dehydration. The lack of water caused him head and body aches, lower back pain (as a result of lack of water in his kidneys), a severely raw throat and overall exhaustion and incoherence.
'When I finally had real food, it really hurt to swallow,' Hanamaikai said.
His symptoms continued into the following weeks.
'For about a week and a half, it hurt to go to the bathroom.'
Robert Romney, medical director at the BYU Health Center, said he has seen a few cases of dehydration among BYU students.
'Dehydration means that your tissues are deprived of fluid,' he said. 'Everything that would produce fluid is very dry.'
Some symptoms of dehydration include nausea, fatigue, loss of skin elasticity, dry tongue, eyes and mouth, Romney said.
'Dehydration makes you more prone to heat stroke,' he said.
An extreme case occurred Wednesday, August 1, when NFL player Korey Stringer died from a heat stroke, according to the Associated Press.
A similar incident occurred at the University of Florida when freshman Eraste Autin died six days after collapsing of heat stroke, according to the AP.
'The sad thing is that they both had warnings the day before,' Romney said.
Stringer got weak and lightheaded and threw up in training on Tuesday. Then he came the next day and still didn''t feel very well. He passed out and never regained consciousness, according to the AP.
Melanie Newbold, 24, a senior from Houston, Texas, studying English teaching, who completed the Spudman Triathalon in Burley, Idaho last weekend, has experienced mild forms of dehydration.
'You can kind of tell when your body is telling you to slow down. I usually get a bad headache and no matter how much water I drink it won''t go away until I sleep for a night.'
Newbold takes care to hydrate her body throughout the day.
'The key is to drink enough water before, during, and after your workout,' she said.
The recommendations are at least 2 quarts of water a day for an adult, Romney said.
'Very, very few of us actually take the time to drink that much water,' Romney said.