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So I made my first stream (small/creek) crossing the other day, where I could not safely cross without walking in the water.

"No big deal," I thought. I see people walking in water all the time in backpack videos.

And I thought that my wool-ish socks (Darn Tough) and my shoes (a lot of fabric) would dry out quickly. Especially in dry Arizona.

(GORE-TEX wouldn't have helped, since the water was ankle-deep, and filled my shoes from the top.)

But I was surprised to find, at the end of a long day, that both my socks and shoes were still wet.

My feet weren't chilled. So I didn't even realize that they were wet. But I did notice my feet burning, in a blister-like way, while navigating technical terrain. (That I had no business being on.) And I could barely pull my shoes off that night.

Thankfully no blisters. But I'm wondering what is the Best Practice for shoes/socks/feet after walking through water?

My wife from Utah calls them thongs, too, and I've always thought it was funny. She lived in Australia for a bit at one point and that's what they call them there so maybe that's where she picked it up.

@TooOld2HikeQ
I was born and raised in AZ calling them thongs or zories.

@Alston_Neal
Never heard of zories. But wasn't born in AZ.
A web image search for thongs often shows flip-flops.

TooOld2HikeQ wrote:A web image search for thongs

"Yes dear, I was just looking for shoes. Promise."

@xsproutx
Yeah, I was hesitant to suggest it. But I have "Safe Search" ON.

@TooOld2HikeQ
Search for dirty girl gaiters, that's always fun, especially if you use that other spelling of gaiters.

I was watching a video of a guy doing the AZT sobo now. He uses 2 gallon zip-lock bags as booties for creek/stream crossings.

So I threw a couple in my pack.

If I use them, I won't try walking on the rock steps above the water line. (Potential slip and fall.) Instead, I'll just walk on the creek bottom were it's flatter.

I just get my feet and socks wet. Remove them both during beaks to speed drying and have extra socks.