Let’s talk footwear! Yesterday I went on a hike which had a scree slope (= loose rock) to get to the ridge, yes we have a few like this in our beautiful Canadian Rockies! Some scree slopes are on mountains that have a hiking trail first and some are on what we call here “scrambles” which are harder than hikes.
So yesterday I saw someone struggling down the scree slope – in short shorts in the cold wind up there brrrr – who was wearing open toes birkenstocks. Yikes! It had a strap around the anckle which is the only good thing I could see about it.. barely any grip underneath, exposing most of the foot and especially the toes to the harshness of the rocks.
People PLEASE stop going for hikes up our mountains thinking you are going to the beach or something.. this is mountainous terrain and even if you don’t head up that scree slope close to the top, the trail lower down might be steep in places and most certainly will have roots, rocks, pebbles on hard ground or on rock slabs (which act as ball bearing = terrifying!).
Sometimes early season, parts of the trail will have hard packed snow or soft snow with ice underneath.. so Please do wear the right footwear! You can also refer to the gear / equipment list provided in our FAQs.
Now we need more people educated on what it means to be prepared for outdoor adventures, so do me a favour and follow me on social media – IG and FB: Nats_AdventureTravels – like and share my educational posts and like and share my blog posts.. because yes, we need to have less costly rescues in our Rocky Mountains – both in BC or Alberta – this summer and always, thank you!
Cheers,
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