HikeArizona.COM

Hi folks,
Some friends and I are off for 5 days casual adventure in Paria. It has started a great gear debate, over appropriate footwear.

I have read heaps of beta about this trail and only come across vague at best footwear options.

A) boots/socks: least preferred
B) sandels (chaco's, teva, keens)/quick dry socks
C) sandels/waterproof socks
D) crazy barefoot I don't need any stinking foot protection style

I have been leaning towards taking both my Chaco's and Keen's and maybe 2 pair of quick-dry socks and 1 pair of warm socks for night.

I have looked at the waterproof sock options at the stores and am not sure. They seem to be rather thicker than I had in mind and don't want my feet to be 200 degrees while I hike. The advice pointing me to this option though is the temperature of the water and the amount of sustained exposure to the cold water we might get.

Sorry if this is a topic that's already been discussed but I appreciate everyone's input. I read (and agree) with Joe's article on his love for Teva's instead of boots. I have been up Battleship on day hikes with the Keen's and did 75% of the Highline in Chaco's/quickdry socks.

Cheers,
Matt

I just came back from Paria on Sunday. I think the preferred footwear is OLD boots and socks...and now I know why.
I wore my LaSportiva Exum River shoes: ( dead link removed )
and I also wore the NRS Hydro Skins socks. They sell those at REI. The socks were great and kept my feet comfortable, not hot. I highly recommend them. The shoes were great traction-wise, but they got sand in them very easily. The river is very low this year, so expect to walk in lots of dry sand. I was stopping every few miles to empty sand from my shoes. The people in my group wearing boots did not have this issue. Because of the sand, Chacos or Keens would make for a miserable experience....but then again, I don't really like sandals. Just my opinion.

I agree with matt about sandals, I wouldn't wear them either... I have a pair of merrell water pros and I really like them, the mesh is fine enough to keep sand out and they drain really well. I wear a quick dry running sock with them, and gaitors for my ankles (low cut desert gaitors to keep the sand out)

I'd stay away from sandals in the constant creek/river travel.

My Salomons amphibs are fair but loosen up quickly and you get the debris as mentioned, would almost prefer to wear my salomon trail runners instead. I like the Five Tens. They work very well, but after a few hours I just get this feeling I want to get them the frick off my feet. Going back to a canoe trip I did on the Illinois I'd probably stick with old running shoes, nothing beats comfort!

Above all else, for sand I'd listen to Matt & Matt as they'd know better than I
Considering you're Matt too, whew!

matt gilbert wrote: I wear gaitors for my ankles (low cut desert gaitors to keep the sand out)

Oh man! Why didn't I think of that?! Actually, I was getting a lot of sand thru the mesh that covers the top of my toes on the shoes. So I guess gaitors wouldn't have helped that much. Still...it's a really good idea.

In response to Hoffmaster's reply:
Save your hard-earned $$$ - wear old tennie-runners and wool socks.

In response to hikeaz's reply:
I make "hard-earned $$$" so that I can spend it on crap like special shoes and socks.

I've done a fair amount of along the river backpacking--66 miles along the Gila in Nm, 5 days about 40 miles Dirty Devil River in Utah, etc. Now aiming for 70 miles along the Escalante river in Utah. And I've done Paria, and Buckskin too.

For me old boots and gaitors do the trick. No sand in the shoes, and more stability for the foot and ankle, under a heavy load. I have some Montrails I use with neoprene type socks that have actually quite a few river miles and still holding up. I suppose the wet boots are heavier but I don't really notice it. I carry a pair of Keens as back up for camp shoes or in a pinch to hike in with some orthotic footbeds I can squeeze in there.

My thoughts on canyoneering footwear can be found in this article:

http://www.hikearizona.com/article.php?AID=22

I agree with the others that sandals are a poor choice for multiday canyoneering.

Thanks all for the tips. I will let you all know what the 4 of us conclude after this weekend!
Cheers,
Matt

Just bought a pair of NRS Storm Boots for a Paria trip at the end of the month. We are going the distance from Wire Pass to Lee's Ferry so I know we'll be in and out of the water hundreds of times. I have done the hike once before in old tennis shoes with a duct tape gaitor! Needless to say the duct tape only hindered my ability to dump out the sand every ten minutes! I would love to hear if anyone has hiked Paria in NRS Boots and has some input?