Buying Waterproof Shoes & Drying Hiking Shoes Post 353

Drying hiking shoes over a radiator. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I went hiking with a group in the Picos de Europe (meaning peaks of Europe) a line of mountains in Spain. The weather had been rainy. I worried that I would fall over, spoil my clothes, injure myself. 

The others were wearing old clothes and many of them were up in the rocky areas. some of them hiked every weekend. They were better equipped, or had already got stained and torn clothes which were specially for hiking. 

The first morning, near the wait for the cable car, I had gone into a well equipped shop to buy a new rucksack.

Waterproof Shoes

I had heard a customer in the shop at the base of the cable car ask for waterproof shoes. The seller said the shoes were not entirely waterproof but water repellent. The customer was satisfied and bought them.

I had not thought that my shoes had any special qualities, or I had forgotten.

Mine are brand FILA, or FIL with what looks like a letter A missing the bar. Made in China. UK size 5. Lace up to ensure a good fit. 

Lace Up Shoes

You are supposed to leave lace up shoes loose on the way up a mountain, hill or slope. But tighten them on the way down, to prevent your feet sliding forward and the big toenail getting constantly jarred.

Toe Nail Cutting

Experienced hikers and hill walkers advise and guides advise cutting your toe nails regularly for a week or two in advance of your hiking trip. Your nails should not be too long. Nor too short - giving inadequate protection.

Toe Protection

One of our group of hikers had to go to a pharmacy to buy what looked like a sponge glove with just one thumb tube to protect his big toe.  The first pharmacy did not stock anything suitable. A bigger pharmacy in a bigger town had what he wanted.

On a later day, my hiking shoes got covered in mud. I was alarmed.

Cleaning Shoes

Back at the hotel that evening, I was astonished and pleased that the mud washed off both the white rubber soles and the blue fabric. But I needed to use my fingernails to dig into every groove.

If I had asked room service for a spare toothbrush I could have used that to clean my shoes. Then I might have thrown it way to be sure neither I nor anybody else made the mistake of using a brush used for cleaning shoes to be later used on teeth and in a mouth.

Radiator Cure

At breakfast, I complained that my shoes did not dry out. Somebody else suggested putting the shoes above a radiator. I had been afraid to do that in case it cracked my shoes. But I had no choice. 

When drying clothes, I had first wrung them out with a hand towel to reduce the drying time. I could have used the hair dryer on the cold setting.

Finally, I had dry shoes. Back home, they look okay, and clean.

SUMMARY

1 Buy waterproof shoes.

2 Adjustable laces are handy. Looser for walking uphill. Tighten when returning downhill.

3 Cut your toe nails before your holiday. Pack large toe nail clippers and small curved toe nail scissors.

4 Stock up with items for removing stones from soles of shoes. 

5 Pack a labelled bag for shoe brushes or narrow pointed pickers.

6 Pack a bag for packing dirty shoes.

7 Tuck trouser legs inside boots in wet or muddy areas.

8 Use radiators only in emergency.

9 In emergency use toilet paper, tissues, wet wipes, old dark towels or face cloths, a hairdryer.

10 Old paper and newspaper were traditionally used inside shoes to absorb water - but beware of black print staining white and light shoes.

11 If you are against using paper and tissues, synthetic face cloths can dry overnight.

12 Pack a second pair of shoes so one pair can be left on a balcony to dry in the day's sun.

13 When driving, place shoes in the warm area of the car to dry whilst driving, or parked. This might be the car boot (Americans say trunk), or the back windowsill.

14 If you don't have a bag for putting muddy shoes in a suitcase, use a hotel shower cap.

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