I’m curious what most of you do for river/stream crossings where you have to get wet. Do you:
A. Keep the shoes on and just get wet.
B. Go barefoot.
C. Switch to a sandal.
Thanks
weez
Poll: River Crossings
system
#4
I use my crocs when there’s just no avoiding a long wade. For a short splash (a small creek where you just can’t quite jump or rock-hop) I wouldn’t bother though. If it’s not enough to soak my boots then it’s not enough to justify digging out the crocs.
Strategic
system
#6
It depends on the situation but I generally go barefoot for the crossing even if I am wearing trail runners. If my feet are wet anyways I just walk through boots on. Generally I like to keep my feet as dry as possible for as long as possible and taking the shoes off gives me a good excuse to drop the pack and take a nice long break to dry the tootsies.
Big B
system
#7
It really depends on the situation - the size and nature of the river, how wet my feet already are, how many other stream crossings are coming up, etc… One thing I’ll do sometimes is take my socks off, and put the shoes back on to cross the river. This gives protection to the feet and extra traction, and keeps things a little drier on the other end… when you put your shoes & socks back on, the socks will absorb some moisture from the wet shoes, but not as much as if you’d kept them on the whole time.
Jonathan
system
#8
Usually barefoot, unless the traction and current looks menacing. In that case, i do Jonathan’s method.
How about a poll question regarding wading through waist-high ponds, swamps, and creeks with no current…drop pants, shorts, everything, or stay modest but drench your clothes? (kidding…please don’t answer…)
markv
system
#9
We both take off our socks, cross in our shoes, and then put the socks back on once we’re across. It helps our shoes dry out a bit quicker. We just were never in a big rush in the Sierra, so a few minutes to change before and after a ford was no big deal.
Jeff wears trail runners, and Chipper wears Chacos, so we each change out for different reasons - Jeff changes so his feet dry out quicker, and Chipper remove the socks so they don’t turn into mud flippers, collecting every bit of trail dust after the ford.
Chipper and Jeff
system
#11
The safest, fastest and least painful way to do it is to wear trail runners and keep them on.
carrot bottom
system
#12
If you’re talking about this year, don’t worry the water is very low. I just finished the trail and every crossing you could walk across using rocks or was either dry, with the exception being Evolution creek where there were 3 logs across which you can use to cross and stay dry.
bad banana
system
#13
If I need to keep my trail runners and feet dry for some reason (too late in the day, cold weather, etc), I remove them and use my crocs. If it is hot and my feet could use the relief, keep the shoes on and enjoy the coolness for a bit after the crossing. Since I wear trail runners they dry in no time on a nice sierra day.
shelly