Side mountain walking

[DamnRinella]

i live in west central FL and trying to break in schees boots for CO trip. I have done around 12-15 miles and doing 4 mi walks along the side of the drainage ditch. I noticed some minor hot spots. How much side incline walking should I expect in CO? Is it all side hill walking? Or does walking on the side just suck for everyone?

Wearing 35lb pack

 

[NebraskaStickHunter]

I think it depends on where you are hunting. I found out last year that trekking poles where a godsend when we had to side hill on real steep stuff. As for it sucking for everyone, I cannot say your tolerance level of something but if you do something long enough you start to forget that it is unfun . I would also recommend some Leuko tape, it helps and doesn’t weigh much in your pack. Have fun and good luck.

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

Your guna sidehill..... like all day.... unless your in a plains unit....it’s def the thing to train on

 

[tttoadman]

Stiff boots will do their job if you force them too. Don't let your ankle roll. The boot will stay flat. Your legs will be sore, but you should not get any hot spots just because you are on the side hills.

 

[jmez]

Side hilling just plain sucks. You will be doing a lot of it. I'd be concerned with my boots getting hot spots on a drainage ditch.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[elkduds]

Since the alternative to sidehilling is climbing straight up or down, expect plenty of it.

 

[1000yrds]

i've worn a lot of diffrent softshell pants and my favorites for most conditions (other than hot summer days and the coldest days of winter) are the acme pants. i found mine on ebay and they show up with some regularity in the $25 to $60 range. there have been times where i've pretty-much spent a week in them without taking them off.

 

[Tylerstortz]

I broke in a pair of Granite 2’s up here in AK this summer. Few 8 mile hikes going from sea level to 3800 and down to sea level with a few smaller hikes of 1000 to sea level and back up. Had two hot spots right away but after that nothing bad. Wore the boots for a few weeks at work as well. Did my goat hunt last month up to 4500’ and coming out heavy with a goat. Boots did great. I will however say Leuko tape is your friend ALWAYS and yes embrace the suck cause it’s all worth it in the end. And side hilling is gonna happen ALOT.

 

[DamnRinella]

Appreciate it everyone, I need to keep my foot upright as my proper plantar behind big toe gets hot. Not a blister yet but will apply some lueko tape to it. Never a problem going up or down hill just side stuff.

I also wonder how much steeper the mountain is as I am walking on pretty steep angles which may be the same on the mountain but just extends up/down much further. I may get nerdy and measure it

 

[DamnRinella]

I broke in a pair of Granite 2’s up here in AK this summer. Few 8 mile hikes going from sea level to 3800 and down to sea level with a few smaller hikes of 1000 to sea level and back up. Had two hot spots right away but after that nothing bad. Wore the boots for a few weeks at work as well. Did my goat hunt last month up to 4500’ and coming out heavy with a goat. Boots did great. I will however say Leuko tape is your friend ALWAYS and yes embrace the suck cause it’s all worth it in the end. And side hilling is gonna happen ALOT.

It sounds like most people avoid or dislike the sidehill. And definitely looking forward to all of it. Trying to do the best I can to prepare but the altitude will be tough

 

[Jason Beardslee]

I live in Texas and hunt in CO so I have a similar change in landscape. I find that it is very challenging to prepare yourself for the loaded hiking in CO. I will strongly echo others here by saying bring Leuko tape - it literally saved my trip this year. best for me is to tape my heels and areas where I know I get hotspots at the trail head but I always forget.

 

[tntrker]

Make sure you wear a "liner" sock as well with whatever other sock you chose. It'll take some of the extra shifting away from your skin. I wound up having to add a pair of gel pads for the balls of my feet. I kept getting hot spots there with my Schnees and these worked great and were comfortable.

 

[DamnRinella]

Make sure you wear a "liner" sock as well with whatever other sock you chose. It'll take some of the extra shifting away from your skin. I wound up having to add a pair of gel pads for the balls of my feet. I kept getting hot spots there with my Schnees and these worked great and were comfortable.

Wearing best darn socks right now. What liner do you recommend

 

[tntrker]

Wearing best darn socks right now. What liner do you recommend

well I use Kenetrek liners

 

[renagde]

You'll do a ton of it. This year I was rocking the Lowa Vantage GTX. I work a pair of Injinji wool liner socks with a pair of Darn Tough over them. I didn't have any hot spots and zero blisters in 10 days. And we put on a lot of miles. I wouldn't hesitate to use and recommend this setup again. The only thing that sucked about side hilling for me was my ankle gave up on day 2. Thanks to leukotape, we taped it up good and I was good to go for the rest of the hunt.