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That guy at REI told me I needed waterproof boots for the Inca Trail and he was wrong.
Back in 2019 I did the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Some sales person at REI insisted I get Gore-Tex boots because of rain. Wore them for 4 days and my feet were soaked anyway from sweat. The rest of my group had cheap trail runners and they dried out fast. Has anyone else had better luck with non-waterproof shoes on wet hikes?
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grace_white23d agoMost Upvoted
You make a solid point about trail runners drying faster, but I gotta respectfully disagree a bit here. Those Inca Trail nights and early mornings can be pretty cold and wet, and waterproof boots saved me from some nasty blisters when my feet got damp from puddles, not sweat. Trail runners are great for fast drying, but if you hit a real rainstorm or a muddy stretch, your feet are just soaked the whole time with no protection. I think it depends on the weather you actually get, but for me, the Gore-Tex kept me more comfortable overall even if my feet weren't bone dry.
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alexw7522d ago
Wait wait wait, hold up. Inca Trail? Like you actually did THAT Inca Trail? I'm trying to wrap my head around that, because I've been reading about it for like three years but haven't pulled the trigger. @grace_white, that's insane. I gotta ask, did you do the whole four day thing to Machu Picchu or just a day hike? I've heard those early mornings are brutal, like single digits sometimes, so I almost get the Gore-Tex call even though I'm usually a trail runner guy myself. But man, wet feet in cold temps for days is a whole different beast than a wet afternoon in the local park.
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