Where trail runners DON'T work....

Last weekend, I was invited to a friends deer lease in Arkansas for some hiking/hunting/camping. Although I don't deer hunt, I did do some fishing, squirrel hunting and lots of hiking. It was rainy, wet and cold, but the most unexpected thing was hiking across 'clear cut' areas. "Clear cut' is the most punishing terrain I've ever hiked. Stumps, trenches, brambles, logs, mud holes, stump holes, a big mess. I had my trail runners and boots (vasque sundowners) with me. Trail runners were right out. The Vasque boots kept me dry and problem free, but a taller boot would have made more sense, especially since shallow creeks were easier hiking than the clear cut areas.

So, you hunters out there, who makes a tall, light, warm, waterproof boot, with emphasis on 'light' weight?

I worked in forestry, largely in the PNW, for over thirty years and a good part of my work involved working in wet clearcuts. While I gave running shoes a try, I quickly learned that the best footwear for this work was a pair of well-greased, caulked, 8"-10" boots. You also learn quickly that not all caulked boots are the same. You need a thick, quality, leather sole to hold the screwed-in caulks in place. Cheap boots would let the caulks poke through the flimsy sole and raise he!! with the bottoms of your feet. You would be walking on screw points all day; no fun at all! Incidentally, in the PNW, "caulks" is pronounced "corks".

I've seen such things from Danner. - but I don't own a pair.

For crap like that I used to have (I trashed 'em and need to make a new pair) set of homeade *LEATHER* gaiters which I oiled the crap out of and would use. A conventional gaiter works pretty good, but at least in this situation doesn't provide you as much "padding" for the things that poke at your calves, and the other problem (for hunting) is they are nylon/goretex - I do NOT wear such things outside while hunting because I stalk, and nothing is more distinctive and loud than the "vrrrpa" of a branch across nylon - it's too noisy. leather or wool is quiet. If you're not hunting or worried about the nylon noise you could probably get away with a conventional gaiter and high thick socks for padding.

Oh, and if it's lots of bog/stream wading, at that point forget even the gaiters and go with what we albertans affectionately call peace river cowboy boots... aka

Mind you I *did* do west coast trail in my montrail hardrocks this year - it has a number of sections at the southern end that are pretty much cutblock level nasty with lots of mud. Isimply wore a mini-gaiter to keep the crap out of the shoes and didn't worry about getting wet. Dried off on the non-swampy sections. Not something I'd reccomend for someone inexperienced with that, but worked for me. I'll go with the "the heck with it I'll get wet" approach if it's warm enough out.

"I'll go with the "the heck with it I'll get wet" approach if it's warm enough out. "

That's my attitude when I normally hike. This weekend was wet and cold and really cold at night. Nothing would dry out, and I spent a lot of time sitting in the woods....which gets cold. I really don't like hiking in boots anymore but this weekend was an eye opener. My Vasque's were great, just too short to trudge across creeks more than a couple inches deep. The other hunters had typical Cabella's camo boots that looked really heavy and uncomfortable for hiking....most deer hunters these days ride 4 wheelers to their stands anyway. I don't do stands. The fun is in the hike!
I used to have good work boots that I'd Snow Seal, but I could never get them completely waterproof. They were never replaced.

I did see some kangaroo leather/goretex boots at Cabella's that were the lightest thing they had at about 2.4 lbs.

I'm going to have to search for the boots Pika talked about.

Check these out. I had a pair of Whites about 45 years ago and they held up well for ten years or so. Finally, I burned out the stitching and cooked the leather while I was working a fire on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.

http://www.oldtradingpost.com/western_store/catalog/Lace-to-Toe-Calk-Logger-Boot-p-2086.html

Momma ain't gonna like me walkin' on her hard wood floors with those things! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

What's it like hiking in something like that?
I remember my first dirt bike boots were 'linemans's' boots. Something like the logger boots but without the golf spikes.

I like those Peace River Cowboy boots. They look good. The tough decision is when you are going on a long several day hike, but you might find yourself doing some bushwacking also. Clearcuts can be nasty. Not just boggy, but gnarly also. Not too bad in summer when your unencumbered and can jump and scramble, but at my current weight I'm pretty much always encumbered. I don't mind getting wet either, but some wet is wetter than others, and some wet is colder than others. On a early spring hike I hiked a couple of days in liners, neoprene booties, and trail runners, and that worked pretty good. I have an old pair of gortex lined soft leather ankle boots I might get restitched. They weren't a bad compromise. Still wet of course, but not that heavy, and not a cold wet. You could change your socks to a dry pair and it wouldn't be a total wasted effort like it is with many trail runners. I haven't done enough hunting to buy stuff with hunting in mind, and I probably couldn't justify those really nice tall leather boots, but they look awesome. I seriously might get those light leather boots of mine restitched, and maybe rip out the old gortex liner to make more room for feet and socks and a thick felt insole. It was adding a thick felt insole that did the stitching in last time, on either side of the tongue where it meets the toe. They are almost built like thick moccasin, but ankle height, and with a heel and sole. I'm not that keen on the sole either. Maybe I can put the sole of my trail runner on the uppers of these light leather boots, and glue and stitch and wrap it all together somehow. That oughta be a site.

Yeah, the caulks are tough on floors. The headquarters of a lot of forestry and logging outfits have slippers made of heavy carpet at the front door. These go on over caulked boots to save floors and to save field people from having to take off their boots whenever they come indoors.

Hiking with caulks is no different than with hiking with Vibram soles unless you get onto rock. Then you are in trouble. One time I darn near killed myself trying to negotiate a short stretch of granite; stepped onto it and skated down about 30' with sparks flying. Fortunately, it was a soft landing. But, for steep, brushy, wet terrain, there is nothing better than caulked boots. I had a pair of rubber boots with caulks when I worked in coastal Alaska.

A good alternative to caulks used to be the Tricouni nails that were popular on climbing boots in the 30's and 40's. I haven't seen a set of Tricouni's on the trail in 50 years though. I suspect that they are no longer made; they were really tough on alpine plant cover. I had a pair of Tricouni-nailed climbing boots myself but went to Vibram in the early 50's. The heavy, soft metal nails would conduct the heat from your feet anytime you got onto snow or ice. But, you seldom needed crampons with them.