the amount of hike bike pushing walking, planning on riding next year and will be getting some big rides in preperation. I will be using my Shimano MT91 Goretex boots which have served me well in the Lakes but sometimes get a hot spot under the cleat. Been using sealskin socks but they are basically boil in the bag jobs so looking at some quality wool walking socks any out there you would recommend that dry quite quick and will protect my feet from damage.
Thanks Rich

I would avoid goretex boots, once they fill with water (and they will as there are numerous rivers and deep puddles) the water gives you trench foot.

The foot problems most people have are to do with trench foot.

Best approach I have is some fairly easy draining shoes, and wooly socks, plus a dry pair for the night (bare feet at night don’t seem to dry as well as dry socked feet).

3 times vet

Used the boots on the Cairngorm Loop with knee length gaitors and stayed dry except for the last day where I was not to bothered about cold/wet feet. They have good support so will be definitely using them!

Go to Pete Blands and buy these

https://www.peteblandsports.co.uk/buy/pete-bland-all-terrain-sock_5192.htm

Aren’t enduro shoes the go-to option for people preparing to hike-a-bike? Decent for riding but with a nod to walking?

The boots will be used 50 miles walking/riding up High St at the weekend they were fine tis the socks that are my concern !!!

I was wearing goretex scraps walking boots on Saturday on my trip back from Ullapool to Garve (pretty much on the HT550 route as it just so happens). Right boot got some water in it cycling through some pretty deep rut/puddles. Couldn’t believe how minging my foot looked 5-6 hours later… oo-ee. White and cankled.

Bridgedale are the best I’ve found rich ,used them on many Scottish and Welsh winter climbing trips ,if your getting a hotspot wear a pair of liner socks under the bridgedales

Bridgedale are the best I’ve found rich ,used them on many Scottish and Welsh winter climbing trips ,if your getting a hotspot wear a pair of liner socks under the bridgedales

Rich, most of us had prunes for feet by the end of the HT550! I’ll try and dig a photo out (but be warned!) It wasn’t the amount of hiking but the overall dampness (and this year was pretty dry), it’s a struggle to deal with it.

I took three pairs of socks, two pairs were of one style and one was different. All were Bridgedale, smart wool mix or whatever they call it. I took different styles as they have different areas of padding/extra wool so areas that begin to get pressure sores can have a rest.

Probably the best advice is to take a microfibre towel and dry your feet out every night and apply talcum powder to further dry them, then put on a dry pair of socks. The prune effect was essentially the start of trench foot 😯 I felt like I’d got a layer of grit in my shoes all the time, my soles were becoming that sore. I think large418 might have been in the cafe in Tyndrum when I took my socks off for the last time – not nice!

I’d probably take five pairs next time so that I don’t have to think about drying and rotating them. I’d probably also keep a light pair just for bivvies.

OK found the shot.

ewwwww!!

I steer clear of ‘waterproof’ footwear after too many experiences like this:

The aftermath from that one was quite sore for a week:

I find normal shoes, mid-warm Sealskinz and thin liner socks work well enough. Try and dry out socks at the end of the day, pay attention to foot hygiene, take off your footwear to air your feet when you get a chance.

I collection their mail order shoes from Pete Blands in the afternoons enquired about the socks he gave me two free pairs to try out result 🙂

Mt91s don’t dry quick. Mine are still drying from the weekend.

These are the quickest drying shoes and will keep your feet fresh wiggle linky

You didn’t seem to keen on wet feet on Saturday?

Aye was tempted to take the boots off for that crossing but thought better of it. 🙂

I used inov8 fell shoes when i did do it in 2015. These dry out quickly so that influenced my decision. Whatever shoes you wear, I’d definitely agree with the above about taking dry socks for the evening. I even stopped a couple of times in the day to take my shoes and socks off today in the sun. Probably wasn’t great for the Dutch motorbikes in the cafe!

Woollie Boollie plus whatever your lightweight shoes of choice are. For me, Specialized Rimes worked well, plus two pairs of socks (one for night time only). I’d generally not wring my socks out during the day unless I knew I’d reached the very end of a wet section because there are so many opportunities for a soaking that you’d forever be stopped.

No trench foot style issues for me with that approach.

I wore MT91s on the May mass start of the Cairngorms Loop and it was good having warm albeit wet feet, but I did need to drain them out a few times

postierich – Member
…Been using sealskin socks but they are basically boil in the bag jobs so looking at some quality wool walking socks any out there you would recommend that dry quite quick and will protect my feet from damage…

I have found something waterproof enough to keep the water out in all circumstances is going to keep all your sweat in, so your feet still get soaked.

The answer may be to look to the past at what was worn by the people who lived in the environments we go adventuring in.

The normal footwear of the Highlanders who lived in the mountains used to be thick wool stockings and brogues with lots of holes in them. Probably something similar was worn by the people who lived in the hills in the north of England.

(One problem is modern wool has the lanolin stripped out of it so it’s nowhere near as water repellent, but it still works.)

I can’t speak for multi-day events like the HT550 but I have done quite a few wet ‘Puffers wearing Keen sandals and SealSkinz with a thin cool-dry type sock underneath. The SealSkinz don’t give you the boil in the bag feel when you give them the opportunity to breathe. I do plenty walking in the event. 🙂

As a soloist I appreciate being able to do the whole 24 hours without losing time changing footwear. The main problem is the lack of foot protection in a sandal (the Keen is pretty good though), and if you’re fashion conscious…

Ideally I would like a boot/shoe made with a perforated material and absolutely no lining to hold on to water. Something like that is available for canyoneers, but I haven’t seen one wide enough to allow thick stockings.

One tip I picked up from an Alaskan site was to give your feet a good spray with heavy duty antiperspirant to reduce sweating. It does seem to help, but I have only used that in 24 hours events so I don’t know how it would work in a HT550 type event.

BTW other than immersion, most of the water getting into your footwear is the downward directed spray coming from your rear tyre as it approaches the BB. A simple mudguard for that part of the wheel’s arc can make a big difference (and your BB might last longer).

My feet were mangled this year. I only took one pair of socks, but most of my overnight stops were very short – like about an hour. There’s no way for your feet to dry in that time.

Will dig out a photo. – edit – https://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_fitz/37317049622/in/dateposted-public/

As other say spare socks, a way of drying feet when you stop and a day time drying break are worth it!

I can only recommend the Defeet Woolie Boolie like above, i find that Sealskinz socks are like 5:10 shoes, great at retaining water after a certain point.

I used gore alp-x socks for riding/pushing with a dry pair 9f woolie boolies for the evening. Putting on those dry socks in the evening was something I looked forward to! I used the foretelling shim another boots which were excellent. Most of the river crossings were quite low so my feet didn’t get that wet most days. If I do it again I’d probably take another pair to rotate the ones I’m using during the day.

I’ve not done a trip more than 3 days (with or without wet feet). My Teva Links take ages to dry, I spend the day with wet feet and dry/talc my feet before bed, then put on clean/dry socks for bed.

It’s grim in the morning when you put cold wet socks back on your feet.

For something like the HT550 (I haven’t done it!) I’d think about different shoes. My MTB shoes don’t have much walking grip anyway so a quick drying fell shoe on flat pedals would be what I would do. I walk/hike in a pair of Salomon Speedcross and am fine with wet feet for a short trip. They don’t dry massively quickly though, too much material. Need more mesh and more breathability

My experience of plenty of hike-a-biking, particularly multi-day events in the arctic where you don’t want to wear tight boots is the net result can be blisters, particularly between the toes. I’ve discovered Injinji toe-socks to be ideal to stop your toes rubbing. Toying with the idea of an HT550 ITT next year, so watching with interest.

Two pairs of Woolie boolies did me. Brilliant socks, had no feet problems at all. Hands and arse were a different matter…

I used Addidas terrex trail flat pedal shoes. Also excellent.