Wet Foot Policy

“So as I said in my other thread I'll be a guide in the Boundary Waters this summer. The camp I work at has a wet foot policy; in other words the bow of the canoe will not run up onto the sand, or rocks, or whatever on shore and we step out of the canoe into the water then life the canoe up on the land.

I am wondering about footwear though. I have a pair of Tevas I am planning on bringing along on each trip, but early in June the water is still going to be pretty darn cold up there. I don't know if I want to wear boots that are going to be wet all week long, I can't imagine that would be very comfortable. I do plan on having a pair of camp socks and a dry pair of sandals or shoes in a dry bag for the end of the day, but I'm not quite sure what to do during the day.

Any ideas?”

“Build a new pier?

someone mentioned mr wigglys wadders on a different thread?”

“Petey, do what us sea-kayakers do. Wear Sealskins under your sandals. They'll keep yer carpet-beaters dry and warm. If the water's really cold, you can wear a pair of Polartec socks under'em.”

“Actually, I think the trade name is SealSkinz.”

“don't use sandles. You'll understand at your first portage. Get a pair of river shoes. Colombia has a nice pair that I've used. They are basicly a shoe with a normal sole that is a little softer and the top is a lot of mesh and drainage holes. I wore then with Smartwools which really wicked the moisture well. I've also heard of Neoprene socks really working well too. The other thing I've seen that seems to work well are jungle boots which are designed just for that purpose. They have drainage holes in the sides and offer some support.”

“Yeah, dm, the river shoes are a good idea. The problem with neoprene though, is that your feet will turn to decomposed tripe (or something like it) after a short time. It tends to contain the moisture next to your skin. I use a pair of Wally World river shoes as camp sandals. They're light and cheap (5 bucks).”

“get a pair of dive boots...some are semi-dry..and some are full dry...you can find 3mm, 5mm and even thicker...they have a rubber sole, and some more technical and dry ones resemble more of a boot sole. some are plain neoprene..some have fleeced insides...check your local dive shop or diversdirect.com”

“Bare feet is all I've ever used in the BWCA. And I never had a problem.

How long do you plan to stand in the water? Most, and most likely all, of the crossings will be at sandy, beach-like areas. If there is not too much wind, the sun can warm the shallow waters. I've gone swimming there many a time. Sure, it was cool to cold, but for 5 to 10 minutes, no problem.

Expect some rain on 50% of the days. Keep your feet dry!

Burn some wet wood. The smoke will help to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Have fun guiding and enjoy your summer.

Contact the camp for their advice.
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Ha, hahaha ha ha! I can see it now. The guide is lost and so are his shoes. Wow, he's the guide and he's never been here before! Has he ever cooked before? We better get those three fires started to signal the daily, airborne rangers. LOL.”

“Neopream (wet suit booties) would be great for what your wanting.”

“They're breathable unlike neoprene, so you don't get really wet,, they feel funny till you get used to them, but they work great,, I even use them as hike socks, it's a coolmax inner layer, membrane midle, and spandex outer layer,, no seams either”

“For what it's worth, someone sent me This Here Link recommending these jungle boots (the ones in the middle) for alternating wet/dry use. At the time, it was in the context of hiking slot-canyons.”

“For summer here in the Northwoods, I have some Hi Tec water shoes that have a sturdy enough sole they could handle short portages. For spring and fall, or if I was really headed into the bush where there were considerable portages or mucky passages (ala my trip on the Sand River in Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario) I have my tall (I think 15") LL Bean boots, leather tops, rubber bottoms with chain pattern tread. Handle calf-high water, mud, rock, roots, etc. The classic canoe boot.”

“When I spent some time in the Boundry Waters, I used Divers booties, tey have a simi hard sole and wore wally world water socks with them, bad thing is in a few days they stink so bad they will gag a maggot off of a gut wagon. Another thing I found in the Boundry Waters was leaches, anything from 1/2 inch to 3 inches long, bare feet and or wading doen't hack it for me there. Take lots of skeeter spray, they ever try to bite you through the tent if you lean up against it at night.
Keep in mind also as you portage with a canoe over your head if you look down and see fresh Moose track filling with water as you look, think where the hell is he?”

“nowslimmer,
I don't know what part of the BWCA you were in, but I wouldn't dare portage, let alone land in bare feet. I have a nice gash in the hard rubber of my shoe from a sharp rock. That rubber is harder then flesh. I don't want to think about what was avoided.”

“Not to mention sticks and other pointy things, DM. Sandals just don't give enough protection to toes and insteps in many of the conditions I've experienced when canoeing in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario boonies. BWCA just seems more of the same and a punctured or gashed toe or foot is not what you want on a canoe trip.”

“deathmarch99 - Sorry about your incident and sorry if I misled you. I never portaged in my bare feet. Just used bare feet when exiting from or entering into the canoe in shallow water(2 to 6 inches), or when launching or removing the canoe from the water. Unless it is nighttime, one can see the bottom.

Don't have a Minnesota map, but I need one, since I will be there in two weeks. I've entered the BWCA from two or three different places and have gone in as far as about eight lakes. The main entry place was something like Sawbill Trail or Sawbill Lake, but my memory is fading after many years.

I had a 17 ft. Smoky Craft Canoe, 86 pounds, and used a side-mounted, 3 hp motor as far as permitted. Used a (jumbo) #4 Duluth Cargo Pack with wide leather straps and a head strap. With all my own gear I made many trips up there from the Twin Cities area(1966-73).”

“On land I used a pair of my old Army boots.”