How to Choose Clothing for Hiking in the Mountains

Video Transcript

Hi. This is David Jackel on behalf of Expert Village and I'm here to talk to you about clothing in the Appalachian Mountains. The weather in the Appalachian Mountains changes constantly. So it's important to give yourself lots of different options for clothing. The weather can be very cold and all of sudden become warm, it can be very dry and all of a sudden rain shows up. So be prepared for anything. The best thing you can do is dress in layers. That means having different layers on your body that you can take off at different times so you can quickly, easily change what you are wearing to match the temperature and conditions. Start with a tee shirt underneath, then add on a longer shirt, button-down shirt, sweater if you want, a light jacket or a heavy jacket depending on the season. And always stuff that is waterproof when possible. No matter how warm it is, it is good to have a light jacket that you can throw on in case it starts raining, because even if it is summer, if a storm comes and soaks you, you are going to be very uncomfortable. It can be dangerous if you are out there too long. Change your clothes to match the weather. This means not only putting on warmer clothes when it gets cold, but also stripping down when it gets hot. Because if you start to sweat, sweat can chafe your body and that is not good for you. As soon as you break into a sweat, take off a layer so that you are cool again. As you climb higher and higher, you are going to want to add more and more layers, but if the sun comes out all of a sudden, you may want to take those layers off. It is also good to wear sunglasses or a wide-brimmed hat that way you can protect your eyes from the sunlight, which is going to be much stronger since you are higher up. If you have a choice, wear lighter colored clothing. This is less attractive to insects and other bugs, and it is also less attractive to sun rays, which means you are not going to have to worry about getting too warm. And finally, pick clothing that dries quickly. Any sort of synthetic fabric that is known to repel water or to dry quickly is a good choice as well.

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