View Full Version : camp shoes and river crossings
Megapixel
03-21-2011, 23:42
On the northern half of the AT, say from Harpers to Big K, how often would you say your shoes get soaked through-- crossing a river? Nobo season, if that matters, harpers by late apr., big K by beginning of August.
I'm just trying to determine if camp shoes are justified for my hike... because really i don't see any reason for them in camp if i'm wearing trail runners...> I would only use them for water crossings. I stand to save about 10 oz., which is very enticing.
ChinMusic
03-21-2011, 23:47
Many folks with trail runners just walk through the crossings, as the runners dry quickly. If I am dry and only have one crossing to do, I would prob prefer to stay dry if I could. I don't carry camp shoes for more than a weekend trip.
Fog Horn
03-22-2011, 00:12
I contemplated not bringing camp shoes, but then I thought of putting on my shoes in the middle of the night to go potty, or the amazing feeling of taking off your shoes at the end of a long day and not putting them back on till morning, and feel like the ten ounces of crocs will be worth it.
I heard though, that if the rivers are full, the currents can get so strong that they can rip off your crocs or flip flops
Trail runners, ford, walk them try.
At night just loosen the laces if you have to get up.
I did carry Crocs once but I woke up in SNP just in time to see a raccoon walking off with one of them.
Nothing is more useless than 1 Croc. :)
Montana Mac
03-22-2011, 08:50
I used Crocs for my "camp shoes" on my attempted thru.
It was while wearing my Crocs and getting water that I did the initial damage to my foot the eventually caused me to have to get off the trail in NH.
I will still carry them - taking off the boots in the evening made the feet feel better and also gave the boots time to air out. I didn't wear Trailrunners so I can't comment on them.
Blissful
03-22-2011, 09:31
You have river crossings in Maine. Crocs worked great.
Blissful
03-22-2011, 09:32
I did carry Crocs once but I woke up in SNP just in time to see a raccoon walking off with one of them.
Nothing is more useless than 1 Croc. :)
Ha ha that is too funny. Must have had a tasty foot
Blissful
03-22-2011, 09:34
Many folks with trail runners just walk through the crossings, as the runners dry quickly.
I did this with my trail runners through a river on my SOBO in the 100 mile wilderness. My feet weighed a ton, felt awful, and did take two days to thoroughly dry when they are that soaked. I will only do it again if I have to.
From Katahdin to the DWG I only carried shoes for river crossings in the Hundred Mile Wilderness. I've had wet feet on countless days during my section hikes with my trail runners (and with boots on earlier trips). I used to get heel blisters all the time with leather boots but never had a problem with runners.
If you do decide to cross streams with your runners take off your socks first then drain your shoes on the other side, take out the insoles and wipe them and the shoes with a bandanna and put your socks back on. Your feet should only get slightly damp.
If I did a thru I would probably pick up some camp shoes (I used Newport Keen H2's) for the Hundred Mile Wilderness but not before then.
Another possibility for extended wet stretches is to use plastic bags over your socks inside your shoes for night use when the shoes are wet. I just went sockless myself at night and would wipe my feet with my bandanna before getting into the sleeping bag.
ChinMusic
03-22-2011, 11:04
Another possibility for extended wet stretches is to use plastic bags over your socks inside your shoes for night use when the shoes are wet.
Bread bags work good for this in camp.
For me, at least, there were no significant creek crossings (and no river crossings apart from the canoe ride) on the whole trail last year; that was NOBO with a late Feb start, finishing in late July.
I did get my feet wet a few times in the northern states, but they were all really easy crossings, and only a few. I think that for most (if not all?) I just took my shoes off and went barefoot if I recall correctly since they generally seemed to be one-off situations. I.e., not a series of crossings, or situations where the trail was a stream or anything like that, so by taking the shoes off just once during the day they stayed dry. I think I was more at risk for wet shoes on the extensive boardwalks in places like MA and VT.
I felt no inclination for camp shoes, apart from down booties for the first couple of snowy/cold months. Just loosen the laces on trail runners and voila! They transform into camp shoes (indeed with bread bags in camp to keep dry socks dry).
ChinMusic
03-22-2011, 11:46
Just loosen the laces on trail runners and voila! They transform into camp shoes (indeed with bread bags in camp to keep dry socks dry).
I think I stole the bread bag idea from you. Worked great on my last trip.
Cookerhiker
03-22-2011, 14:04
Guess I'm the minority here - I hike in light boots, not trail runners and for Maine, I brought Keen sandals as campshoes and for fords. More weight than crocs but I was glad I had them for the fords as I'm not very nimble-footed.
brian039
03-22-2011, 18:18
I can only think of 3 times where I had to ford on my thru. It was a really dry year though. I went barefoot (it does hurt a little bit but only for a second), except at one crossing where someone had left a pair of flip flops. They were half my size but I still wore them, lol. You could even just take your socks off and cross in your boots or trail runners, trail runners dry pretty quick. I just can't justify the weight of bringing crocs. I wore trail runners and they were plenty comfortable to wear around at camp.
brian039
03-22-2011, 18:36
You could even just take your socks off and cross in your boots or trail runners, trail runners dry pretty quick.
Should have also added you need to take your insoles out. Your socks will still get damp but not near as bad.
earlyriser26
03-22-2011, 21:01
I can only think of 3 times where I had to ford on my thru. It was a really dry year though. I went barefoot (it does hurt a little bit but only for a second), except at one crossing where someone had left a pair of flip flops. They were half my size but I still wore them, lol. You could even just take your socks off and cross in your boots or trail runners, trail runners dry pretty quick. I just can't justify the weight of bringing crocs. I wore trail runners and they were plenty comfortable to wear around at camp.
Only 3 fords? Even in a dry year you are going to have many more than that in the wilderness alone. Some are rock hops until you miss the rock and it becomes a swim :eek:
brian039
03-22-2011, 22:18
Only 3 fords? Even in a dry year you are going to have many more than that in the wilderness alone. Some are rock hops until you miss the rock and it becomes a swim :eek:
Nah, they were all easy rock hops. Even the 3 I had to ford were no deeper than knee deep. EXTREMELY dry year I should add. I got rained on about 15 times out of 180 days and many of those were just quick thunderstorms. Not once did I get rained on for an entire day. My thru was charmed:)
brian039
03-22-2011, 22:30
10422
And here's a little visual confirmation of how dry it was. These are dried up ferns in Maine.
johnnyjohnson2043
03-30-2011, 13:37
I was planning on bringing my Vibram FiveFingers for stream/river crossings. They dry much more quickly than any shoe that I know of. They are also a hell of a lot lighter than most other shoes. I've also been interested in trying the new Merrell barefoot shoes for this.
On the northern half of the AT, say from Harpers to Big K, how often would you say your shoes get soaked through-- crossing a river? Nobo season, if that matters, harpers by late apr., big K by beginning of August.
I'm just trying to determine if camp shoes are justified for my hike... because really i don't see any reason for them in camp if i'm wearing trail runners...> I would only use them for water crossings. I stand to save about 10 oz., which is very enticing.
I can't remember a single time on the AT where I got my feet wet fording a stream/river. For sure they got wet constantly with rain and mud and whatnot, but I never had to wade into water to cross a stream that I can remember.
That said, just because I don't remember something, doesn't mean it didn't happen. If it did though, it would only be a time or two, since it clearly didn't make any impression.
I can't remember a single time on the AT where I got my feet wet fording a stream/river. For sure they got wet constantly with rain and mud and whatnot, but I never had to wade into water to cross a stream that I can remember.
That said, just because I don't remember something, doesn't mean it didn't happen. If it did though, it would only be a time or two, since it clearly didn't make any impression.
Ditto. Your boots will get equally soaked (compared to a creek/river crossing) in a hard rainstorm when sections of the trail turn into a drainage gulch. Then when you hit the really muddy sections (like after Boiling Springs in PA), you'll be looking for creek crossings just to wash the mud off.
After a while, you just get used to putting on wet heavy socks and boots each morning. Then you'll hit some dry days and all of a sudden you realize your boots are dry again. It is a wonderful thing for a short while... but you can be guaranteed that the entire cycle will repeat. lol
I just use boots for hiking and croks for camping. Heavy trail shoes are really the new boots these days and they will dry faster. Just be sure your ankles are tough enough for trail shoes with a fully loaded pack.
garlic08
03-30-2011, 15:19
My hiking partner hiked the first time in '02 and he said he never got his feet wet in a ford the entire hike. He said this as we slogged through mud and creek crossings in New England when I accompanied him on his second hike in '08. It was much earlier (June and July) and in a wetter year. So it depends on the season. Since you're going earlier than most, it might be wetter than most experience. I lost count, but I'd guess maybe half a dozen real crossings. The rest was just mud and wet trail.
I'm with those who can hike in their camp shoes, or camp in their hiking shoes. I never had a problem with wet shoes. I've had a few issues with mud, but not water. You're right--it's very tempting to drop those 10 oz and many do.