HIKING
Day hiking 101: Getting Started By Cheryl Christensen, Mountain Equipment Coop
SO THE VIEWS from the canal pathways aren't as inspiring as they used to be, and you're craving more fresh air than post-brunch strolls in the Byward Market can afford? You're not up for (at least not yet) multi-day unwashed excursions into the backcountry, but craving a few hours' respite from the confines of (sub)urban Ottawa. Welcome to the world of the Day Hike, where all this becomes a possibility.
The Right Stuff: What will I need? Exploring the realm of Day hiking doesn’t necessitate accruing whopping personal debts. However, with the appropriate gear, clothing, and safety items, the experience will be more enjoyable. Putting your best foot forward: choosing the appropriate footwear to match your needs I just want a pair of boots and a pack. I don’t have a lot of time to discuss the specifics; I’m a busy person in a hurry. Don’t complicate this by giving me information. . . As someone working in the outdoors industry, it concerns me when folks are willing to plunk down their hard-earned cash without ensuring that their gear is a perfect match for them. Gear shopping is a slower and more involved process than a trip to the grocery store, as it should be! If your feet aren’t happy, nobody is going to be happy, including your hiking partners, who will get to listen to you bemoan your blisters every step of the way. It can be daunting looking at seemingly undistinguishable rows of footwear, but the choice can be quickly Ottawa Outdoors Summer
narrowed down by asking yourself, What type of hiking do I want to do? Shorter jaunts on groomed trails with less arduous terrain, where ankle support and waterproofing aren’t of over-whelming concern, require different footwear choices than multi-hour trips over hills and creeks with kilometres between you and your cozy car at the trailhead. For day hikes, there are commonly two categories of footwear to consider: approach shoes / light-hikers versus dayhikers. Approach shoes / light-hikers are reminiscent of runners or walking shoes on steroids. They tend to be somewhat stiffer, offering more support, with deeper lugs on their soles for better traction in sloppy situations. With a below the ankle cut, they are much lighter than traditional hiking footwear and are good for situations where you want to travel light and fast and ankle protection is not of big concern (either because of the terrain or because of the ankles o’ steel you are famous for amongst your peers). Day hikers, as their name suggests, are well suited to excursions of a few hours’ duration (i.e. a day) on moderate to mildly difficult terrain while carrying a daypack. They are heavier, more rigid, with yet more support than approach
shoes, and feature an above the ankle or three-quarter cut. Not only does this help support and protect your ankles, but it also helps keep out more of the stuff you don’t want in your shoes, such as pebbles and mud. Some day hikers may even provide sufficient support to cross the cusp into light backpacking. I want shoes that are light as a feather, breathe like a screen door, provide excellent support, are 100% waterproof, can be used for trail-running but would also be good for the Chilkoot Trail. Oh! They also need to look good for formal occasions, and definitely cannot be brown! Life is made of compromises. Shoes with lots of mesh are sure going to breathe well. They are also going to be quick drying; which is good news because it’s unlikely they’re going to be very water-resistant. Footwear made entirely of leather is going to be more waterproof and more durable, but also a little warmer and less breathable. Leather’s pores are much smaller than the comparatively gaping ones found in mesh uppers. Footwear that uses Gore-Tex® is an option that many folks swear by. A Gore-Tex liner is inserted between the 5
