I'm hiking Cumberland Gap National Park this weekend. Forcast calls for Cold (30 degrees F) and rain Saturday night and Sunday morning.
That has me debating if I can still safely wear my trail runners, or if I should switch back to my waterproof Merrell boots.
Thoughts? Tips on how to manage freezing temps and wet shoes?
Posted Nov 16, 2017, 4:06 PM UTC
What's the overnight low? I'd be worried about frozen shoes.
30f
You'll be fine in trail runners down to 30f. Just bring some bread bags to put around your feet.
You could put them under your legs while sleeping to keep them thawed. Below your sleeping bag but over your pad. Inside a stuff if they are super wet. I turn my sleeping bag stuff sack inside out and use that. leave the stuff sack open on the side to allow any moisture that evaporates to escape.
Frozen shoes means nothing - mine froze on the PCT this year many nights.
Depends on the temps. Past certain point frozen shoes = you'll be getting frostbite. Especially wet shoes that then froze - moving water from solid to liquid is a massive heatsink, and all that heat is going to come from your feet.
Me at 28 deg F crossing 13 creeks that were knee to thigh deep (in trailrunners):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbdGaHMgZPC/?hl=en&taken-by=rmignatius
Keep your shoes under your shelter or inside of it, close to your body so hopefully they won't freeze. For wet feet and wet shoes, double layered nylon dress socks and Trail Toes footcream are AWESOME.
Friday: made camp in the dark at 9pm after 3 frigid creek crossings up to our thighs
Saturday: woke up to freezing temps and 13 more creek crossings equally as deep, but getting shallower as we moved up the mountain. Did 17 miles that day and it was a LONG day
Sunday: easy 6 miles out
NO BLISTERS!
That just looks like fun!
Gotta ask, why'd you keep on your shoes and socks for the Ford? I took mine off during all my fords in Maine, (30-40* usually) while it sucks to have numb feet, when you put back on your warm socks and shoes it feels nice.
On the AT in ME (I hiked sobo 2005), the ME crossings were VERY mellow and shallow and almost always compromised of smooth, visible rocks.
These 13 crossings in 7 miles (like a crossing around every turn) were knee deep and FAST moving water. It would have been too dangerous to do it without shoes.
You recommended Trail Toes on here before, I'd never heard of it. I tried a little bottle with some toe socks, which is what I'd been wearing to prevent blisters in the past. It was ok.
This last trip I went simple nylon running socks with a liberal amount of trail toes. Exact same shoes, zero blisters, zero hot spots, nothing.
I don't know what that stuff is but it's magic. Thanks for the recommendation!
Awesome, man! I'm surprised about the toe socks as I've heard they're great for blisters.
Are those socks synthetic or wool?
I think they're synthetic.
What I found was this. They were great, but not perfect. If the socks are a perfect match for your feet I think they work well. For me there was a tiny gap between each toe where they didn't slide all the way down. Maybe my toes are big, who knows. Regardless, that tiny bit over tens of thousands of steps becomes irritating.
I also would get hot spots on the bottom of my feet. It was as if the material started to stretch and irritate my feet.
The running socks I wore this last time were simple synthetic socks my wife purchased at Marshalls for a few bucks. Simple and workable.
My hiking buddy is notorious for blisters. He's never hiked without them. He used Trail Toes as well, zero issues. He was raving about how awesome the stuff was the entire time. It changed his perspective on hiking completely.
Thanks again.
Awesome! So glad!
Wish I owned stock in that company because it’s magical for my feet as well. And also my crotch and shoulders.
Happy trails!
(Now you’re making me think about that stuff as a gift for my few hiking/running friends!)
Something to consider is using Gore-Tex trail runners at cooler temps. Your socks will still get wet but they are considerably warmer since they're not pure mesh and will allow your feet to warm up the water trapped inside your shoe instead of constantly letting in cold water.
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I hiked 400+ miles of straight snow on the PCT this year. Wet trail runners every with no issue and no foot problems. There were two days my toes got numb, but it was below zero temp wise.
Wear thick wool socks. If you wear thin socks your feet will freeze but with thick socks your feet will be tolerably cool.
Anyone try the Asics Gel Venture 6? basic trail runner ~$50 could be worth picking up if on sale on BF
You can safely wear them, but I think you will be less comfortable and far colder in those conditions in soaking wet mesh trail runners than in slightly moist boots. If it's consistently very wet (not just from rain, but also wet leaves, stream crossings, puddles etc), your feet will look like this photo at the end of the day. Not to mention the fact that your trail runners + thick socks will absorb a significant weight in water which might make the weight savings less appealing.
If you do wear trail runners, wringing out your socks gets rid of a lot of moisture which can make a big difference.
my concern is that it is forecasting for a pretty strong amount of rain. If that occurs it will oversaturate any footwear I'm wearing, and then I'll have heavy wet boots vs slightly less heavy wet trail runners.
I'm making the assumption that I'm going to get my feet wet regardless of what I wear.
Trail runners in cold/wet conditions sounds like a good idea until you've tried it. Background in this area is from hiking and caving in the UK (where I'm from) so cold, damp, wet etc. I think you will be safe, but it will be introducing more discomfort to your experience. Trying my best to be objective here. I think if you gave 100 people trail runners and boots & got them to try using both on a 3 day trip in cold/wet conditions, most would choose the boots after their experience imo. You may enjoy the extra discomfort of trail runners which I can understand. If all we cared about was comfort, we'd just stay home!
Not going to be a popular statement, but I think some of the advice you're receiving in this area is basically rationalization and bragging rather than useful information to help you make a decision.
In most circumstances when hiking in boots on trails, it is entirely possible to prevent them becoming totally saturated with water especially if you have gaiters. Even if they do become completely 100% saturated with water (walking through a river), your feet will warm this water up fairly quickly. You can also wring out your socks very well which helps a lot. The boot linings will dry quite significantly over a days worth of hiking.
In very wet conditions, mesh trail runners are continuously saturated with cold water which is constantly replenished as rain falls on them, water drips down your pants, as you brush through wet vegetation and leaves or step in extremely shallow puddles. It's like wearing an extremely porous wetsuit which just pumps fresh cold water in as you move. The same simply doesn't happen with boots.
I live in a wet and cool place and I wear trail runners year round. In the winter I run in them in the snow.
If your body is generating enough heat and your core isn't cold (keep that core warm) your feet will be fine.
When I run in the winter it's common for my feet to be wet from melted snow and slush within a few hundred yards of my front door. My feet are always fine. Once you warm up you don't notice them and the shoes feel warm.
My recommendation is pack extra socks. I'd pack a dry pair for each morning. For a wet weekend trip this is feasible, but on a longer trip you'd need to dry a pair out. Putting dry socks on in wet shoes is preferable to wet socks in wet shoes. I've done both. And as I said above after 15-20m of walking you don't know they were ever wet.
Thanks all. Went with the trail runners. Rain held off till we got in Camp Saturday night. Overnight rain turned to snow. Wasn't a problem.
You can safely wear the trail runners, but expect to be wet. As long as you are moving, you should be okay. Once in camp, switch to dry socks and put some plastic bags around your feet to use the shoes (so as not to make your dry stuff wet again). Most importantly, sleep in dry socks.