Footwear in Maine

[Lead Dog]

I've been reading reading journals by recent thru hikers and some switched from trail runners to boots just before Maine. I know it's a wet season along the trail but do boots help best when fording crossings? I'm sure they don't dry well. what's up?

[Frick Frack]

I wore my camp shoes (Crocs) across the river fords. We started in ME and I can not imagine starting in trail runners with the conditions we endured....I know of at least two people who did not make it out of the 100 Mile Wilderness w/o trail runner failures. If you are NOBO you will probably miss that June slop. I know I'm in the minority here but just saying...

[Lead Dog]

when you say failures do you mean blow outs, lost shoe in the muck? I'm a boot girl turned trail runners some what. My last hike took me thru the Shenandoahs during a total wash out and I was wishing I had tennie shoes on. However the trail is much flatter during this section and Maine sounds extremely rocky and treacherous.

[fredmugs]

I've only done about 90 miles in Maine. It was in August and the stretch between the Kennebec and Monson was very muddy. Although I rarely wear boots I would recommend them for that section alone. I've also done the northern most 55 or so miles and it was a whole lot easier.

As far as fording is concerned make sure you have footwear that will not easily come off. Flip flops that are not secured around your achilles area will not cut it. I wore sandals and when I picked up my foot it came right off and was gone faster than I could go after it. The streams I forded are really rocky and going across barefoot isn't a lot of fun either.

Biggest lesson I didn't learn from reading journals: It takes longer than you think.

[Lead Dog]

I'll be going in mid Sept next year hiking the 100 mile wilderness to katahdin only. I have thought of a couple options for fording: crocs seem ok but not sturdy enough to stay on the foot, then there's keen water shoes which I like due to the toe protection but then there's the weight of carrying them, lastly just ford with boots/runners on.

[Frick Frack]

The Shenandoahs, to me at least, was some of the easiest hiking we encountered along the entire AT (beautiful though and one of our favorite sections) but ME was hiked in rain all but a few days and the mud, roots, rocks were slow going and treacherous. I saw a few people who were wearing trail runners have the sole blow out because the stiching and glue just rotted out from all the muck. Two of our friends got "trench foot". Even my boat anchor boots got trashed. If I was going NOBO and wore trail runners the whole way I would probably just continue that way. I have very sensitive feet and can not pull it off. Don't get me wrong, ME was fantastic but June was probably not the best time to take it in.

[Frick Frack]

I'll be going in mid Sept next year hiking the 100 mile wilderness to katahdin only. I have thought of a couple options for fording: crocs seem ok but not sturdy enough to stay on the foot, then there's keen water shoes which I like due to the toe protection but then there's the weight of carrying them, lastly just ford with boots/runners on.

My in-laws live part time in ME and they say Sept/Oct is the best time to visit so that is perfect timing. Crocs worked for me even with the huge river swells we encountered (the Kennebec river ferry closed for the 1st time....for 3 days). After so many stops to take on and off my boots to ford though I got to where I just wore them tru the river...washed out the stink....

[Blissful]

Trail runners and crocs for the water crossings got me through. And carrying plenty of socks and drying your footwear out whenever you can.

[SouthMark]

Used trail runners and crocs last month from Stratton to Gorham with no problems.

[dessertrat]

I just got back from a hundred mile trip yesterday. It is MUDDY up there. I wore trail runners. If I had to do it again, I would have worn heavy boots. Three reasons-- protection, stability, and because the trail runners never had time to dry, and therefore were just as heavy on my feet as heavier but more waterproof boots would have been.

The trail runners lasted fine, but as I said, I would not have made that my first choice if I had known how wet it would be. The last time I was up there, it was during a very dry time, and I did not plan for how much more muddy it would be.

[Chaco Taco]

I left out of Monson last year with a brand new pair of Keen Targhee's and flip flops. Ended up just running through the fords because it was raining the whole time. It gets really muddy and its pretty rugged. Get something durable. They dont call Maine, The place where hiking shoes go to die, for nothing

[mudhead]

I They dont call Maine, The place where hiking shoes go to die, for nothing

Odd. A guy said that about PA.

[Tinker]

I've only done about 90 miles in Maine. It was in August and the stretch between the Kennebec and Monson was very muddy. Although I rarely wear boots I would recommend them for that section alone. I've also done the northern most 55 or so miles and it was a whole lot easier.

As far as fording is concerned make sure you have footwear that will not easily come off. Flip flops that are not secured around your achilles area will not cut it. I wore sandals and when I picked up my foot it came right off and was gone faster than I could go after it. The streams I forded are really rocky and going across barefoot isn't a lot of fun either.

Biggest lesson I didn't learn from reading journals: It takes longer than you think.

I knew that the sandal floating away from someone thing must have happened to someone. Before this, I only knew that it could.
I hiked the Hundred Mile Wilderness last fall. I did 3/4 of it in trail runners which had fabric/leather uppers. The uppers stretched with the dampness until they began to creep around my feet on sidehills. I switched to my all nylon webbing Keen sandals (brought for camp and backup hikers), and finished the last 25 or so miles plus the hike through Baxter, up and down Katahdin, and back to Abol Bridge in them.

[David@whiteblaze]

No hiking xp at all, but what about Vibram five-fingers?They're obviously light and somewhat flexible, why don't you buy a pair and bring them as camp shoes, then ahe needed, grab them off your pack and cross streams. I've heard people say that they're great water shoes, because a sharp rock might cut them, but not likely your foot, and you can feel things like you were barefoot but get more grip on that one mossy rock that was in just the wrong spot.

ANyways that's my piece, heed it if you dare.