Boots for white mountains?

[jaiden]

Somtime in the next few weeks/months I'm thinking of hiking crawford path up to pierce, eisenhower and then maybe washington, and Jefferson (plans aren't firm right now.) My father in law who is an old school heavyweight hiker but with a lot experience in the presedentials tells me i'm nuts to think of hiking in trail runners.

I was a scout many years ago, but haven't hiked in years, so I can't speak from experience. I'm 31, and haven't been athletic in a few years, but I'm only about 10lb over what I should weigh. He's a lot heavier and older than I am, so I'm not that worried about keeping up.

I'm looking at a base weight of around 14 lb. I don't own any "real" boots but I do have some cheaper ones I could get by with. I'm trying to avoid buying a set, as I've spent a lot on gear and haven't even been out yet!

I know a lot of people thru-hike in trail runners, but I'm wondering if you were going to do this section over two days (and without the 1000+ miles of training), would you want boots?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Marta]

No boots for me. I hiked that area the first week of June this year in trail runners and they worked just fine.

Marta/Five-Leaf

[Jimmers]

I've hiked that section several times in both boots and trail runners. Runners are definately the way to go. You'll have much more energy at the end of the day, and the trail's relatively smooth compared to the rest of the Whites.

[Roland]

In the 70s and 80s, I would have said you were crazy for hiking the Presidentials in sneakers.

In the last few years, my boots haven't seen much use in the summer. Last fall, I hiked in trail runners until the second weekend in January. We didn't have much snow until then.

Once we get by mud season, I now prefer to hike in lightweight footwear.

[Kerosene]

Interesting comments. I did the Whites last Fall in perfect weather, wearing Garmont Eclipse low-tops weighing 22 ounces a boot. They seemed to be ideal for the task, although having over 400 miles on them I would've liked the soles to be a little stickier.

Earlier this month I did the relatively smooth 75 miles north of Damascus, Virginia in 15 ounce TNF trail runners. They worked fine for this section, but I still managed to bang my toes pretty hard several times. Frankly I couldn't imagine trying to do the Whites in them.

I do agree though, that the lighter footwear will help keep you fresher at the end of the day. With the way I walk I think I just need sturdier footwear when rock-hopping all day.

[Mr. Clean]

I'm with you, Kerosene. Boots in the Whites just seem to feel better at the end of the day for me, but everyone is different.

Do your feet ever hurt badly at the end of a long day at work? If not, maybe light hikers will be fine. Or, try a longish dayhike and see how they feel. Hey, you can never hike to much.

[Moxie00]

Trail runners work for alot of hikers. The Barefoot Sisters did the trail barefioot and several people have done the entire trail in Tevas. "Hank" will wear out six pairs of $10 canvas sneakers on a thru as did Grandma Gatewood. I prefer LLBean Crestas at $150 a pop. Georgia to Maine without a blister and dry feet all the way when I had gaiters on. My feet felt good at the end of the day and I appreciated the support while carrying a heavy pack. Of course Ben and Jerry followed Howard Johnsons path because everyone doesn't like the same flavor and thats the same story with footware. Use what works for you, if we all had the same feet and taste only one brand and style of footware would be used on the trail. Use your trail runners, if they don't work try boots next time.

[wtmntcaretaker]

well I was wondering if you and your father in law were planning this as a day hike or if you were planning to camp anywhere and make it an overnight or 2? I was wondering because what you have described is a very nice hike but for people who have not been hiking for "years" it might be a little ambitious. Just going to eisenhower and back via the Crawford
path is a good dayhike and very beautiful on a clear day. trying to go all the way to washington let alone Jefferson in one day on the crawford path is a long day for hikers in prime condition, particularly from lake of the clouds tojefferson, over washington. consider reading the white Mt. guide for trail conditions and milage and terain and elevation gain info, if you havent already. I would hate for anyone getting back into hiking to overdo it their first time back.