I do a bit of hiking on the beaches in the winter and spring. Mostly 2-3 day trips, but have done two 8-day trips. I was wondering if anyone else does this. Should I wash the salt off gear (pack, tent, shoes) after each hike? Does the coastal environment degrade gear?

Also, how do you deal with the 100% humidity, dew, constant wetness and that "sticky" feeling, and sand fleas and ticks? After much trial and error I have decided to accept wetness while hiking and always have dry clothes for camp. I put the wet clothes on again in the morning. I take my old rain clothes, because I am worried about the salt ruining my expensive new rain jacket that I use for the mountains.

An added "essential" is a good detailed tide table specific to the location. These are easily available on the internet. I also am very careful to be sure there is water flow in the fresh water streams along the route. One problem I have had is getting to the water- many times the creeks are choked with brush- nasty stinging nettles and poison oak.

I am not yet good at sand camping- always get sand in my food and setting up a tent on sand is challenging. Camping up and away from the sand is not always possible. Even inland the ground is very sandy.

Just curious how others deal with all this.