So the forecast for the Twin Cities for next week is brutally hot with mid week highs of 98-99 degrees. What is the forecast for the BWCA area, Ely or Grand Marais entries? How do you deal with that kind of heat up there, if it comes?

Hopefully there will be a breeze. I actually take a single sheet to sleep with on hot nights. The sleeping bags are way too hot so it’s just nice to have a sheet to pull over my body. The nights will eventually cool down, but it will take a while. Also, we cooked with stove. Forget cooking over a fire. Stay hydrated!

We have sleeping bag liners for warmer weather. We start out on top of the sleeping bag and use the liner as a light cover rather than getting in it. We just used a seam ripper to open the seam 2/3rds of the way down to make it easier to use it as a cover. I used a sewing machine to sew the raw edge to prevent it from unraveling. Usually in BWCA area, or the desert in Texas it gets cool enough at some point to get in the sleeping bag so we have both.

We noticed the mosquitoes stuck around a lot longer when it was warm also. Usually they go away once the temperature starts to drop, but if the night stays warm later, they stay up later also.

At least there is the lake to cool off in there. It's still important to watch for overheating on portage trails though. Be especially aware of medications like diuretics, and other BP meds that can increase the chance of overheating. Ibuprofen can increase the chance of acute kidney failure when people get dehydrated also.

Acclimation is a big part of it. It’s hard to do though since we are just thrust into the trip upon arrival.

Lot’s of water. Drink lot’s of water.

I did a family trip 15 years ago during an extremely hot spell of weather and my sister got heat exhaustion. She was quite sick for the afternoon and into the evening. We did what we could to get her back to normal again and the next day she was Okay.

Bring electrolyte packages.

Keep the nylon sleeping bag at home. Oh man I hate a sweaty body on nylon!!
Tom

National Weather Service websites for:

Ely - 5 Day Forecast

Gunflint Area - Gunflint Area

As accurate as it can get...

On summer trips I bring a slip case for my sleeping mat. It is made out of an old sheet and is much more comfortable to sleep on as opposed to directly on the nylon mat. I also bring a lt-weight Coolmax bag liner which helps keep my bag cleaner and can be used separately on warm nights.