I have been very interested in what people have been using to keep dry during 5 and 6 hour walks in torrential rain while fording streams. There are people wearing gore tex lined leather Meindl mountain boots, others wearing waterproof hiking shoes and myself, wearing New Balance 860v7 running shoes not at all waterproof. My end of day survey has had the same result each day: everyone's feet are soaked. There is simply no stopping the water in this extreme torrential weather. Some people are wearing gore tex mountaineering rain jackets (Mammut) and others like me wearing ponchos. I think everyone has rain trousers. I have Berghaus paclite gore tex ones..The result? We are ALL soaking wet from head to toe, if not from the rain then from our own perspiration and the condensation on the inside of our jackets or even my Sea to Summit poncho tarp. The condensation is a killer! I wear a long sleeve button up Columbia Cascades hiking shirt and a Patagonia Houdini Wind Shirt under my poncho. Works great but as I said there is perspiration and some condensation albeit much less than if I were wearing a gore tex waterproof jacket which I have done in the past. There is simply no feasible way to stay dry. I love my running shoes because they are light and super comfortable walking on any surface even rocks, boulders and deep streams. The water comes in and the water goes out! Gore tex linings are not so permeable once the water goes in. The key for me is to have good socks which continue to keep the feet warm when wet. I am using Bi Clima socks by Rywin and also have a pair of Darn Tough Merino wool socks. I may start hiking in my shorts instead of my Columbia trousers and rain trousers. There's just no way to keep this kind of rain out. Having said that, the contents of my Gossamer Gear Gorilla backpack have remained completely dry thanks to the poncho and an extra strong garden trash bag. So we all get soaked, arrive at the next destination, commiserate a bit and then take showers and get warm. I honestly don't even bother anymore to dry my shoes out because tomorrow we are going to get more rain! Ha ha! The people are wonderful and the hospitaleros have been exceptionally warm and welcoming. Amazing people.
Ankle deep water today. No way around it. We just marched right through! Water in, water out! Ha ha!
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