High Sierra Topix

I always hike with a pair of body glove water shoes. They'll last quite a few seasons and are incredibly inexpensive ($5-10). I've had and abused the same pair for 4 seasons now. I'll take out the padded sole insert to lighten them up a bit. The weight is comparable to the vibram 5 fingers i imagine, and I'll carry the extra ounces everytime. There very lightweight and excellent camp/fishing/wading, and light climbing shoes. They''re quite versatile and assist greatly in stream crossings. The amount of weight to camp comfort/foot safety (doing all kinds of activities in them) is negligble. Almost couldn't imagine hiking w/o them (coming from an ounce counter). I've been a guide in the Sierra's for quite a few seasons and always recommend to clients to bring something like what i've described above (particularly in high run-off seasons).

Kris -- thanks for the suggestion. I've never heard of those but I think I will try them. Last weekend in the Southern Sierra I used an old pair of sneakers, but they got so muddy and waterlogged that they added a ton of weight to my pack after crossings.

Count me among the people who would rather put on Tevas, Crocs, or another brand of water shoe than balance across a slippery log or a trail of dubious stepping stones.

Water shoes are a must in my book. I like Crocs. They are lighter than Tevas, more comfortable, less expensive, easier to pack, and have a toe. Plus you can slip them on and off easily if you bring the backstrap forward. I wear them around camp.

The most dangerous creek crossing I ever had was south of Devil's Postpile on Fish Creek in the swollen summer of 1975. You had to scoot down on a fallen 35-degree log into the middle of the creek. A branch stuck straight up from the middle of the log. You had to get around the branch 12 feet over rushing water. After you got to the bottom of the log, you had to wade through rushing water to the far shore. Peer pressure made me do it. Today I would scout another crossing no matter how far up- or downstream I had to go.

Over the years my pack load went from over 50 pounds to about 35 pounds. One thing I did to reduce weight was to get some super-lite water socks with spider rubber. One of my better purchases. I would never go on a trip without some kind of fording foot-ware, especially this year.
(Coldest creek crossed early season=> Frog Creek.)

Do you have a link or recommendation for a particular kind of these water socks? Are they worn with a water shoe to ford, or by themselves? thanks, I enjoy your website, sierra trails, by the way.

You might try Men's Proton 3 Water Shoe:
http://www.bvori.com/teva.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you need more sole protection, you might try the Men's Hurricane 3 below those.
Pair them up with a pair of fleece socks for real camp comfort. These would work too, sans spider-rubber (climbing shoe material):
http://www.rei.com/product/800882/camar ... ater-shoes" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I have done stream-crossing barefoot, and it is no fun.

maverick wrote:Hi Kathy

Welcome to HST!

More like "welcome back Founding Member formerly known as 'wingding', after a long hiatus..."

Oh! People ought to post something when they change their nicks, eh?

Well, I wore those Columbia Drainmaker shoes up George Creek in the Eastern Sierra last Friday. They worked well, but were falling apart by the time I got back to the trailhead. I was planning on going up to about 10,000', camping, and then climbing Mount Barnard the next day. We did a similar trip in May of 2008, but climbed Trojan Peak on that trip. Everything was going okay with the creek crossings until the creek crossing at about 7500'. That crossing requires some bushwacking, and the damage to the vegetation along the creek from the heavy snow made the bushes flatter and even thicker than they were in 2008. The creek was divided into two parts at this point and the water was flowing like crazy. I got across one part in several places, but just wasn't comfortable going across the larger section with how strong the current was and having to deal with the dense vegetation at the same time. There was only one more crossing after this one before I'd be done with the crossings, but I figured crossing back over on the way out might be even harder as the weather was warming up; so I was done. I turned around and headed out. The next day I backpacked up Armstrong Canyon (a dry canyon). I'd rather melt snow for water than get swept away in a creek.

Well, KathyW, you did the right thing by turning back and using a back-up plan. Its always good to be thinking about back-up plans because your safety is important. Creek crossings will be tough for awhile yet as despite the days getting shorter, the temperature is increasing. There's a lot of snow-melt yet to come.