Did a 6 hour day hike on the AT last weekend... about 3 hours of which was in fairly consistent rain. On a previous hike in similar conditions I had suited up with rain pants and jacket and completely overheated. This time, after scouring people's advice, I went with the rain jacket but decided to forego the rain pants. Wearing a pair of REI Sahara pants with the legs on, a pair of Smartwool Heavyweight socks, and a pair of Coolmax Liners Underneath and then my Vasque Breezes.

When I slogged into the finish of my hike I removed my boots, poured out about a 1/4 cup of water from then and squeezed another 1/4 out of the socks.

I know this rain is atypical but this is something I can't let happen again. I somehow avoided blisters this time. Do I just need to put on the rain pants in a driving rain? Should I have had gaiters instead? Would a rain skirt/kilt afford the same dryness TO MY FEET AND CALVES without overheating?