The sane thing to do about muddy trails is hike someplace else. I try to be normal but there are times when I’m repulsed by the easy, sane choice and beguiled by the difficult, ludicrous one. My mom is still wondering what she might’ve done differently, but that’s another story….
To the point: mud. If you’ve been following along you may recall that I live just down the road from a park with wonderful trails — steep hills, scenic wonders, wild flora and fauna galore — with only one tiny, glaring problem: in the winter these trails, which we share with horses and cattle, turn to thick, gooey, stinky muck after it rains.
Why not find another trail? Because driving another 15 miles round-trip to the nearest park of equal merit is a pain in the butt and a waste of time and gasoline. I need someplace outdoors to do my morning workouts because every time I try doing them indoors I get bored after a couple days and start sitting on my fanny doing things like blogging when I should be sweating. No matter how fast you type, you will never burn off the calories that manifest themselves as gut flab when blogging. Sorry, just a fact of life.
I hiked three and a half miles of mud Wednesday morning, and here’s what I’ve concluded:
Big, honkin mud boots are required. Overshoes are even better. My new NEOS overshoes are, as promised, big, heavy and hot, but get this: when you get back to the car with your slimy, nasty boots, you just step out of them boogers, drop ’em in the trunk and you’re on your way. Hose ’em off when you get back to the house and guess what: your cleanup’s done.
Mud is mucho heavy. If you go the overshoe route you can wear your sneakers or any lightweight shoes and socks to save weight, which is all well and good till the muck starts sticking to the bottom of your boots. It feels like backpacking — it’s that much extra resistance. It’s fantastic exercise, but a lot more work. Plan shorter routes and set extra time aside.
Hiking poles are your friends. I took mine along because I knew I’d need to spread the load around. Of course mud started sticking to the pole ends, too, so I got even more upper-body workout than expected. Poles are also handy on hills and really slippery areas. If the rain’s recent enough you can do a bit of mud skiiing, if you feel particularly brave/foolhardy.
Your feet will love soft trails. The weight of the mud is hard on your legs, but the softness of the trail is actually kind to the tootsies.
Wet and slippery are your enemy. Hiking in the mud regularly is tenable only if you can confine the nastiness to your boots. If you fool around in wet, slippery mud for long you’re gonna land on your fanny, get mud everywhere and come home mad and kick the cat. Stick to parts of the trail where mud’s had some time to set up. It’s firmer and provides much safer footing.
The key to mud hiking is being ready for it. If you’ve got your dedicated mud boots and your hearty pioneering spirit, you’re most of the way there.
