Clothing Makes The Man

Well in this case, socks do. I had been reading about the "proper" footwear for hiking for years but only recently have I decided to try it out. I'm talking about two pair of socks - a pair of polypropylene or silk liners followed by an outer sock of wool, acrylic, etc. I picked up two pair of poly liners for $6, and had already purchased a pair of good mid-weight wool hiking socks at the Scout shop. The Pinnacle hike I recently blogged about was the first time I wore this combination and voila - no blisters!

However the true beauty of this setup really made itself known on my trip this past weekend to Hickory Run. I decided, foolishly I might add, to not bring my waterproof hiking boots along on the trip, since the trails we were planning on doing were not real strenuous. I forgot to take into account the fact that it had just rained two days before, and quite heavy too. Every trail we attempted had some sort of water to cross. I had not one but BOTH of my feet submerged - on two separate trails too - up to the ankle. Foot immediately got cold and wet but within probably 5 minutes, my foot was dry. The bottom of my jeans were still wet three hours later, but the socks were nice and dry. Three cheers for moisture wicking! I did notice the socks were just the slightest bit damp when I took them off in the tent later that night, but nothing like the way cotton socks get wet and then proceed to transfer that misery to your feet for pretty much the rest of the day.

I will never... repeat - NEVER... wear cotton socks in the outdoors again. NEVER AGAIN!