Dolly Sods Wilderness
West Virginia
June 1998
Reminds me of the time when a group of us were backpacking in the Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia. It had rained heavily over the past few days and our trail was flowing with runoff from the long storm. Proper trail etiquette is to hike on the trail, regardless of whether the footpath is mud or water, dirt or rock, or whatever. If you walk on the berm, you will be crushing and flattening the soil on either side of the footpath and this will widen the trail leading to erosion. Simply, it may take ten minutes to clean the mud off your boots but several years for the edges of the trail to heal.
Today, as the storm finally moves off, we are all walking in several inches of water. Except Marty. I notice that he is gingerly stepping tippy toe on the edges of the trail, avoiding sloshing in the water. He’s up front so his meticulous pace is holding us up. Some folks are actually getting annoyed.
“Marty,” I yell. “Aren’t your boots waterproof!?”
“Yeah, of course they are,” he yells back. “But only up to the tops.”
Eventually we come to a clearing by a stream, a small meadow already dry. We drop our packs, remove our boots and lie in the grass drying off, appreciating the first sun we’ve seen in days. The steam rises from our packs as the rainwater evaporates.
While we are relaxing, I quietly walk over and pick up Marty’s boots. Then I heave them into the creek.
“It was either your boots… or you!
“Now, Marty, you are a real hiker!”