A marmot stole my shoes!!!!

I've become obsessed with shoes lately. Just for fun. It's winter and I'm bored.

What if you were 10 miles from a trailhead and a marmot stole your shoes during the night? What would you do to get back? (The trail is pretty good.) Use only the gear you normally carry.

A marmot stole one of my brother's boots from under the vestibule while we were in the tent once. We got it back but since then I always keep my boots in the tent when I'm not wearing them. There is also a ground dwelling squirrel in our area that will steal glasses, big fuel canisters, etc. It pays to keep everything secured when camping.

My brother was only a few inches away from the marmot when it grabbed his shoe. From close up a marmot looks pretty big. My brother screamed as loud as he could "wolverine!". We still laugh about it.

If I had to I'd cut out foot shaped closed cell foam pieces and keep them in place by pulling socks over them.

Great solution!

What could you do to keep the socks from wearing through quickly?

I've had a marmot (or a marmot-like critter) come right up to my boots (with me still in them) and begin to chew on them. At least, it was better than encountering the grizzlies that were in the area.

Duct tape. Or for me lately, I usually bring a Thermarest epoxy patch kit. You can cut 2 for each foot and glue one to the outside of the socks. The patch kits are very useful for jury rigging up all sorts of stuff.

For me though, if it were warm and a nice trail I would probably just go barefoot. I'm barefoot once I get to camp anyway.

sK

My solution was to cut an insert from my camp towels. Cut another insert from my journal. Put those inside my socks. Then cut a long strip from my footprint to wrap my foot like an Ace bandage.

Then I'd make a wide braid from my 550 line and put it over the bottom by the balls of the feet and attaching it on the top like a strap on sandals.

First, my shoes are usually hanging from my hammock off of the ground...

I suppose I could cut insoles from my thin GG pad, but they wouldn't do a lot. If I were in New England, where we have a lot of birch trees, I might try to cut a couple of sections of bark from a downed tree to fashion as much of an outer shoe as I could. I could probably also weave something from cattails, but that would be time consuming.

If I were close to home or someone I knew, I MIGHT call and ask someoone to bring me shoes. Most of the AT, where I usually backpack has some sort of a road crossing/fire road every few miles.

CM

CamperMom,

I think a woman on the AT with a hammock lost her shoes this year when a bear took them. I may be wrong.

Great idea on weaving soles with cattails. Green twigs could be used, too. If 550 cord were weaved in with them and used to attach the shoes, it wouldn't wear much.

"My brother screamed as loud as he could "wolverine!". We still laugh about it."

My brother, aged 13-14 then, spotted a kangaroo a few kilometers inside the Italian border coming across from France.
(it was a deer. I still laugh about it...)

Anyway, with some cordage ,socks, bits from my hip belt, various pack straps and Gaffer tape, I should be able to come up with something.
The bark for soles could be a solution as would some long grass or fiber from certain trees.
Franco