It is very important to have a good night’s sleep at night during a trek. While sleeping your body repairs your muscles and tissues and also helps you to gain energy for the the next day. Having interrupted sleeping patterns can affect your ability to make clear decisions that might be fatal for you. Mostly trekkers face problems in sleeping on higher altitudes. It is because of the lack of oxygen that causes disturbances in the sleeping patterns. Here are certain tips that might help you with sleeping properly at night.
- Never sleep empty stomach: Your body heat warms up the sleeping bag and food gives us the energy to keep our body warm. Include food rich in fats and carbohydrates that will help to keep your body warm. Nuts, energy bars, and dairy products are always a good option. You can also carry soup, hot chocolate or any other hot drink in a thermos to sip on when you feel cold.
2. A hot water bottle inside your sleeping bag: Keeping a water bottle filled with hot water can help in warming the sleeping bag. Your sleeping bag will take time to warm up slowly from your body heat, keeping the hot water bottle you can heat it a little faster. Also, this hack comes handy if you are trekking in cold temperatures.
3. Do not postpone urinating: An empty bladder will definitely give you a good night sleep. So always take that nature’s call. Try to urinate half an hour before sleeping and right before sleeping. Avoid having too much of liquid right before going to sleep this might increase your chances of urinating midnight.
4. Cover your body: Most of our body heat is lost through fingers, toes, head, etc so it is important to wear a hat, gloves, and socks to avoid the loss of heat from our body. If in cold temperature wear layers of clothes before going to sleep. You can keep your next day’s clothes inside you’re sleeping bag towards your feet it will keep your feet warm.
5. Clear the spot: Before setting up your tent make sure that you have cleared the way and there are no stones and sticks that might hurt you while sleeping. Always try to find flat level ground but sometimes it gets difficult to find it. In that case, you can sleep on a little incline ground but make sure that your head is on the upper part to avoid blood rushing.
Sleeping is something you should be taking due care of while on a trek. These few tips come handy and help you enhance your sleeping experience. On your next trek do not forget your essentials to have a good night sleep.
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Compiled by Sheetal Makar (sheetalmakar30@gmail.com)