Hypothermia will cause severe shivering, slurred speech, incoherence, stumbling, drowsiness, and extreme fatigue. If you do get wet and notice any of the symptoms in yourself or someone with you, immediate treatment is advised. Get out of the wind. Remove all wet clothes. Put on dry clothes and crawl into a sleeping bag. The victim should be given warm drinks if coherent and able to swallow. It may be necessary to use your own body heat to warm a hypothermic person.
Lightning
Thunderstorms occur frequently in the Flat Tops. So does lightning. The plateau has several large clear areas, free of trees. Be cautious about hiking in the open anytime storms are threatening. If electrical storms are a possibility, stay close to shelter. During an electrical storm, avoid open areas or lone trees.
If you are caught in the open, remove your pack, which likely contains conductive metal. Squat down with your feet apart. Form a ball with your body. In this position, a lightning strike should pass over your body in what’s called a flashover. Keeping your feet together is like closing a switch. It completes the electrical circuit. Only in this case, you are the circuit.
Forest Fire
Get out of the area and don’t hang around to watch it. Report fires to the nearest USFS district office.
This photo, taken a year after the Big Fish Fire, shows ground cover recovering. Fireweed, one of the first plants to return following a burn, is scattered among the burned trees.
Other Hazards
The Flat Tops has lots of standing dead trees. Select a campsite with this in mind. Strong winds, common in the Flat Tops, are all it takes to knock one down.
Get your water only from known safe sources or treat it before drinking. Assume that any surface water is contaminated. Water can be filtered, boiled, or chemically treated to kill giardia. Using only water that has been processed with barley and hops will also eliminate such problems. Oh. While a beer may taste good after hiking all day, be aware that alcohol can also contribute to dehydration, a cause of altitude illness.
Insects are abundant on the Flat Tops. Bring repellent. Lots. Garlic is also said to repel mosquitoes. It’s effective also in capsule form. This is available from your pharmacy or health food store.
Snakes are not a serious problem. Most of those you see are garter snakes. You might even come across an occasional bull snake. They’re harmless. The worst that would come of a bite is tetanus and almost everyone has been immunized against that. Should a bite become infected an antibiotic may be needed. Timber rattlesnakes could live in the Flat Tops but if they do, they’re rare.
Livestock
Horses are not the only livestock you will encounter on the Flat Tops. You will also meet up with llamas, cattle, and sheep.
Usually, cows will run from you but not always. A cow with a calf is protective of her offspring. If she sees you as a threat, she will get belligerent, especially after being on the range all summer.
Bulls also present a problem. When cows are in heat, a bull has only one thing on his mind. A bull having amorous thoughts is an animal to avoid. If you’re not a cow, he may see you as an object on which to express his aggression. Avoid them, even if you must go out of your way.
Sheep are also grazed in the wilderness, most often in the high meadows. Grazing is a historical use of the forests and was grandfathered into wilderness laws. You can reduce the probability of contacting livestock by inquiring at the appropriate district office to learn areas where sheep or cattle are being grazed.
There’s one other hazard, but you are the only person who can prevent it. That’s carelessness. Read the signs posted at trailheads. They inform you of wilderness regulations that protect both you and the resource. You don’t need to go to the extremes that would be required by OSHA if they were to regulate wilderness travel but prudence is required. You go to the Flat Tops to enjoy the experience. Don’t ruin it by doing something dumb. The wilderness is unforgiving of mistakes.
Altitude Illness
Anyone who visits the Flat Tops, whether you live in Colorado or the Gulf Coast, is a potential victim of altitude illness. A study several years ago found one in four visitors to a mountain resort had some altitude related symptoms.
Physical problems with altitude vary but can be grouped into three separate but related forms: Acute mountain sickness (AMS), high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), or fluid in the lungs, and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE), or fluid on the brain.
AMS is rarely seen below 6,500 feet. It becomes increasingly common above 8,000 feet, an elevation easily encountered on the Flat Tops. Symptoms are usually minor though they can be disabling. Severity is greater among those who haven’t taken time for acclimatization. A person making a rapid ascent may experience a headache— mild to severe—nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, weakness, sleep disturbance, or experience periods of intermittent breathing.
Left untreated, AMS can advance to a serious, life-threatening illness, HAPE. It most often affects those who have had the problem previously, or have been acclimatized to high altitude, spent two or more weeks at low elevations, and then returned to high altitude. The symptoms can develop rather rapidly, in a matter of hours, or slowly over a period of one to three days. HAPE can occur with no symptoms of AMS.
A person suffering from HAPE will experience shortness of breath, irritating cough, weakness, rapid heart rate, and headache. The problem frequently gets worse at night. A pulse rate higher than 110 and respiration over sixteen breaths per minute is an early sign of HAPE. A medical emergency exists should the rates exceed a pulse of 120 and twenty breaths per minute. If the illness is untreated, the victim can go into a coma. Death may follow within a very short time.
A person with symptoms of HAPE must be immediately evacuated to lower altitude, preferably below 6,500 feet. Oxygen may help mild cases but descent is still necessary.
HACE is less common than the other forms of altitude illness but is the most serious. Symptoms include severe headache, confusion, hallucinations, unstable gait, loss of vision, loss of dexterity, and facial muscle paralysis. A sufferer may fall into a restless sleep, followed by deep coma and death. Immediate descent is required if the victim is to have any hope of recovery. Oxygen, if available, should be given by facemask at the rate of two to four liters per minute.
Symptoms of all three forms of altitude illness are progressive. Some are overlapping. It doesn’t follow, however, that one form will always progress to another, more serious condition. A person can have HAPE or HACE without first showing symptoms of AMS.
Anyone showing signs of HAPE or HACE should be taken to lower altitude immediately. On the north side of the Flat Tops, the nearest medical facility is at Meeker. If you exit the wilderness by I-70, treatment is available at Glenwood Springs.
A person might think that a physical conditioning program would prevent altitude illness. It ain’t so. Fitness will give you more endurance and aid in the efficient use of oxygen. But it won’t prevent altitude problems. Even if your fitness level is excellent, don’t let it lull you into overextending yourself before acclimatization.
A conditioning program should begin at least twelve weeks prior to traveling to high altitude. The body requires this length of time to respond to physical training. And remember that acclimatization is lost once a person has returned to low altitude (below 6,500 feet) after as little as ten days.
Even after completing a conditioning program, a person who lives near sea level is going to require time to acclimate to high altitude. When possible, you should allow two or three days to adjust to the altitude before