Walking on Tundra Hussocks

[OXN939]

I wondered if I should even take my pair of Sitka Mountain pants or just rain pants. I have Kuiu Yukon rain pants that aren't bad to hike in with the zippers to vent.

I have trekking poles I never leave at home when I hope to be packing meat on my back. Those are a gamechanger for sure.

My Kennetreks are a leather boot but I keep them treated up good with the Kennetrek wax. I keep hearing good things about the synthetic boots like the Scarpas that dry faster. I really don't want to spend a bunch of money on another pair of good hunting boots until the Kennetreks need replaced though. Good boots are priceless on a hunt, but they aren't cheap! I also know the Kennetreks fit my feet, never tried on Scarpas.

I have a pair of these Rigeline supply boots with Yoder chaps I have used on the river around home. They are pretty light for what they are at 47oz for the pair, way lighter than either my waders or wading boots. They are decent camp shoes with the tops folded down and make a packable way to cross bogs. Depending on the terrain they might be worth taking instead of chest waders and boots or might not. We will be hunting along a river in unit 26 I think so the waders might be well worth the weight. Depends on if I'll be living in them like the moose hunt or just needing to cross water a few times a day and then going back to the Kennetreks/gaiters The boots are heavier but much more durable than Wiggys.

https://ridgelinesupply.com/product/tingley/

Once we are finalized on booking I'll be asking the transporter what they recommend and go from there.

The custom waders are a great way to go. That's probably the first modification I'd make to the gear loadout I had if I could go back in time before my trip last August. What I ended up doing was wearing my hip waders most of the time, packing a pair of boots and changing into them if we were using a ridge to traverse some distance. Nice to have a pair of boots or shoes to wear while you're sitting around glassing, but where we were on the North Slope, your ankle boots would be completely inundated within a 5 minute walk of pretty much any point from camp.

 

[mcseal2]

I bought a size to big Tingley ultralight rubber boots and used them as camp shoes. They were perfect for the swamp at about 24oz for the pair. Easy to slip on and off to go in and out of the tent, and let my get my waders off and inside out as soon as we got to camp to let any perspiration dry.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

nope...you might regret that. I've tried a lot, and the only thing that suits my personal foot placement is hiking boots i trust. Bring gators instead of rubber boots, and that solves the dilemma of taking two pair of boots.

take this advice before all other I've offered!

 

[Larry Bartlett]

that comment was for rubber boots vs anything else. sorry if that wasn't clear. Haven't tried the sitka thingies

 

[colonel00]

Some good info so far. For my next trip...someday...I plan to wear my Simms waders and wading boots with good support. With that said, I will be rafting and in the bottoms more where it is wet and there are creeks to cross. Having the waders is just nice in general as that whole environment is wet and waders cover 3/4 of your body. Just get breathable waders for that much moving. If you have plenty of time or can hike along the tops of ridges then the walking can be better and regular boots can work much better.

 

[duchntr]

Theres alot of input on this, alot of which seems to be from guys who were flown in. The OP is asking about walking from the road out of the corridor, no way in hell id do that with chest waders or hip boots. I've done the hunt you describe twice (walking 5MI off the rd) and I used my hiking boots and gaiters and they worked great.

 

[mooster]

Theres alot of input on this, alot of which seems to be from guys who were flown in. The OP is asking about walking from the road out of the corridor, no way in hell id do that with chest waders or hip boots. I've done the hunt you describe twice (walking 5MI off the rd) and I used my hiking boots and gaiters and they worked great.

Thanks for the input. yes the thread got a little sideaways.

 

[Marmots]

I used to work off the haul road and had to hike some miles into the tundra several times a week.

It was really hard going, but honestly not much worse than hiking Idaho bunchgrass prairie or sagebrush steppe. In a way, the tundra is less likely to result in an ankle twist because it is so reliably and consistently terrible to walk on. You never get a false sense of security and let your guard down.

I'm not sure you are planning on hunting or where the herd is likely to be this year, but around where I was stationed there was a surprising amount of topography and ridgelines to walk. The ridgelines are a godsend because they are high, dry, and compact.

Some of my buddies hiked it if xtratuffs and I wore Muck Wetlands with ankle braces underneath.

When I had to carry a heavy pack I would just wear my normal leather mountain hunting boots. My feet would get a little wet. But whenever I get wet boots I just think of the Janis Joplin line "freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose", then slosh forward.

 

[Bmagee]

We tried to stay in creek drainages or on top of ridges. These seemed to be the most solid with the least amount of tussocks to fight with. Ultimately it is inevitable that you will have to contend with these suckers. It is the equivalent of placing bowling balls under a memory foam mattress and trying to walk miles. I wore primarily 9" boots with gaiters and did fine. I carried some Wiggies waders in my pack for deeper creek crossings. Ultimately, during the pack out, you have to make sure every step is solid. Don't want to twist and ankle or blow out a knee. Take your time and don't get in a hurry.

 

[Jackal7]

We hunted the Brooks Range for caribou from August 31- September 7th. Four of us had both stockingfoot waders and wading boots, as well as our Crispi mountain boots and Kuiu gaiters. After 1.5 days of walking around in my waders and Simms G3 Guide boots, I was done. The tundra was so awful to hike on I switched to my Crispis and the gaiters (as did my three buddies). I never got wet until the last day when I fell in a 3 foot deep creek with a too heavy pack of meat and cape and head on my pack. I'm glad I had the waders for fishing and float plane exits and entries, but wouldn't do hard hiking in them again. And, it rained every day.

 

[shanny28757]

Biggest things that make me miserable regarding tussocks:

The ankle-twist / knee-sprain factor. Some tussock fields are tightly bunched and you can't go through them without stepping directly on the highly unstable clumps. The unpredictable result is something like walking blindfolded through a tire dump. Every step is a threat to ankles and knees.

The fatigue factor. Walking though a tussock field probably requires about double the energy of normal terrain. It's hard as heck on leg muscles, hips, thighs and even back muscles. Add an 80 pound meat-loaded pack to the deal and things go from bad to very bad in terms of fatigue.

I've wondered whether very stiff mountain boots combined with waterproof knee-high gaiters would be a good combo for tussock terrain. Maybe. Just don't forget to bring ibuprofen and stuff for blisters.

I’ve only hunted this terrain once so I’m. By no means an expert. But I took scarpas and gators and can’t think of a better combination. I went over the gator once when I was running to get to a spot to cut off a bull but no boot other than hip waders would’ve protected me there.

I really didn’t find the tussocks as bad as I thought they would be based on the reports here. Just go slow and watch where you step.