Shoes-summer hillwalking

Which shoes you wear can make the difference between an enjoyable day in the hills and getting blisters, being cold/too hot and getting soaked. Too many people are choosing the wrong shoes for the job. This post should allow you to decide what to wear when.

Summer hillwalking

Ah, summer. MWIS has forecast clear, hot, settled weather for a week with a 90% chance of cloud free Munroes. It has been dry for the last week. So many people pull on thick woollen socks, a pair of leather boots and head into the hills.

Wool wicks and breathes fairly well. The leather, however, doesn't. Their feet overheat and the sweat accumulates. Due to the weight they are carrying (some people swear that 1kg on the feet is like carrying 7kg on their backs) they have a less enjoyable time, sweating about when there is no need. It is not as though wearing big leather walking boots is even more sensible from a "what if the weather turns bad" point of view. They will be more water resistant initially but eventually, unless they are brand new/really well maintained and you are using waterproof trousers and gaiters the water will get in...and it will stay in there till you sit them on a radiator for hours to dry them.

Increasingly I have seen people using fell/train running shoes by such brands as Inov-8, Salomon and Adidas. Inov-8 are the ultralight specialists, making shoes with no cushioning (it is assumed that the vegetation you are running over/you running on the balls of your feet will negate any need) that weigh very little (they handily name their shoes according to weight, e.g Roclite 320s weigh 320g per pair). They generally have very deep treads for grip on mud, shale and vegetation and some have a rubber similar to that used on climbing shoes which gives added grip on scree/scrambling.

I own two such pairs of shoes...Adidas Kanadias which I run and walk in and a pair of Inov-8 roclites which I walk in (slightly too big for me, not fun to run in). Both pairs of shoes are light and mainly composed of mesh. Stepping in a puddle therefor will soak your foot immediately but the shoe will dry after around 30 minutes on a warm day. I managed to break through the ice in the Cairngorms while walking on a meltwater pool that had a floating mass of snow on it. It was to get a picture and my shoe dried after 20 minutes in the sun.

 These shoes allow me to walk faster and in greater comfort. Admittedly there is less support for the ankles, which might be an issue for some but I am as yet young and fit, with robust ankles.



Socks

Up till recently I was a devotee of the nylon sock and for round the house and my day to day routine they are fine. Till I discovered well fitting merino socks I would wear a pair inside by thicker nylon ones when winter mountaineering, effectively trapping a layer of sweat against my skin.

I use either thin wool or double skin wicking synthetic socks when summer hillwalking now and merino wool socks in winter. That said, I did once see a guy walking up Ben Wyvis in Nike trainers in February.