Hiking · 6 min
Footwear, feet and the ground New York gives you
Why this matters
'Equipment selection and use' is a named exam subject, and for hiking that is mostly boots and feet. Blisters end more guided days than weather does.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to
- Match footwear to New York terrain and season
- Prevent and treat foot problems in the field
- Advise clients on packs, poles and rain gear
The ground
New York's mountain trails are not smooth. Adirondack and Catskill trails are commonly wet rock slab, root ladders, mud, and eroded drainage channels that are the trail. Herd paths in the High Peaks are unmarked and rough. This favours:
- Ankle support and a stiff-ish sole for rough, loaded or wet work
- Genuinely waterproof boots, and the acceptance that on many days feet get wet anyway. Gaiters help more than people expect
- Aggressive lugs. Wet Adirondack anorthosite slab is astonishingly slick, and so are wet roots
- Trail runners for fast, dry, light days by experienced clients only. They are not a beginner's shoe on this ground
Feet
- Broken in before the trip. New boots on a guided trip are a guaranteed blister. Say this in the booking email
- Wool or synthetic socks, never cotton. A thin liner sock under a thicker sock moves the friction off the skin
- Treat the hot spot, not the blister. Stop the moment anyone mentions rubbing, tape it, carry on. Two minutes then saves the afternoon
- Carry tape, blister dressings, and a spare pair of socks that is not for you
- Trim toenails short before a trip with descent in it. Long nails and steep descent is how a toenail comes off
- At breaks on long days, boots and socks off for five minutes. Feet dry, hot spots reveal themselves
Packs
- Fit to the torso, not the height. The hip belt carries the weight and should sit on the iliac crest, with the shoulder straps only stabilising
- Heavy items close to the back and near the middle
- Rain cover, or better, a bin liner inside the pack. Rain covers leak and blow off
- Water, snacks, map and a layer within reach without taking the pack off, or people will not use them
Poles
Genuinely useful on New York terrain: they take load off the knees on descent, give three points on wet rock and stream crossings, and probe mud and snow. Set them shorter for the climb and longer for the descent. Stow them for scrambling, where you need hands. Rubber tips on rock reduce both damage and noise.
Rain gear
A waterproof shell with a hood, and waterproof trousers for anything long or cold. A poncho is not adequate on a windy ridge. And the thing to tell clients plainly: on a long wet day everyone gets damp, so the trip is saved by dry layers in a dry bag, not by a better jacket.
From the field
A client mentions at hour two that her heel is 'a bit warm'. You stop the group there, take the boot off, tape the heel, and lose four minutes. The alternative is a deep blister at hour five, a limping descent, and a party off the mountain after dark.
This lesson is part of the NYS Licensed Guide Exam course. Open it in the course to answer the retrieval checks that go with it, track what you have read, and quiz the whole unit. Lessons, quizzes and the glossary are free.