Yes, you're wearing your gaiters wrong.
Fall is coming to the Coast Mountains, and with it comes something we know very well: RAIN – lots of it.
Not the polite kind of rain where you put on a shell and carry on. We're talking about hours of sustained rain, saturated trails, dripping forest, soaked blueberry bushes, slippery logs, and alpine heather that can feel like it's been covered in Vaseline.
Good rain gear matters, and staying dry and moving safely in these conditions has some special tricks.
#1 OVER OR UNDER?
If you said over your pants, think again.
Most of us are accustomed to seeing gaiters worn over our pants. That makes perfect sense for snow travel, where their primary job is keeping snow from getting into our boots.
Heavy rain changes the equation.
In a Coastal downpour, your gaiters go UNDER your rain pants. Think about shingles on a roof. Every layer overlaps the layer below so gravity carries water down and away allowing water to run down and away from your boots.
Put your gaiters on first, then pull your waterproof pants over the top of them.
Rain jacket → rain pants → gaiters → boots.
If you put the gaiter over your rain pants, you've created an opportunity for water running down your leg to enter through the top of the gaiter. From there, it has only one direction to go.
Straight toward your boot.
Once water gets inside a waterproof boot, Gore-Tex isn't going to save you. You've essentially created a very expensive bucket.
Snow: gaiters over your pants.
Heavy rain: gaiters under your rain pants.
#2 MICROSPIKES AREN'T JUST FOR SNOW
Here's another one of our favourite tricks: we carry microspikes year-round in mountain terrain.
Anyone who has travelled through the Coast Mountains knows what happens to steep alpine heather and blueberry bushes when they're saturated. Your nice grippy hiking boots can suddenly feel like you're walking on Vaseline.
Microspikes can make an enormous difference.
The points bite through wet vegetation and into the soft ground underneath, providing additional traction on steep wet heather in morning dew or rain, slippery blueberry slopes, muddy trails and ultra-steep descents. They can also be extremely useful for wet log crossings where the spikes can bite into the wood.
One important exception: take them off on hard rock and in boulder fields. Microspikes need something they can bite into. On solid rock, rounded metal points can reduce traction rather than improve it. Use them where they can bite. Remove them where they can't.
For us, microspikes are a year-round tool. Even in summer, they bite beautifully into our soft, loamy trails and can provide excellent traction on steep dirt and pine-needle-covered descents. Snow or no snow, they stay in our mountain packs.
#3 GET YOUR HIKING POLES OUT
Wet conditions are also when hiking poles really earn their place in your pack.
Traction is only part of preventing a fall. Balance matters too.
Poles give you two additional points of contact with the ground and let you test questionable surfaces before committing your full weight. They become even more valuable after hours in the rain, when you're tired and your footing becomes less precise.
If you have bad knees, or you're facing one of those classic 1,500–2,000 metre Coast Mountain descents, poles do even more than help with balance. Research has shown they can reduce the forces through your knees and lower legs by up to 25% during downhill hiking, taking some of the punishment off long descents.
Four points of contact are often better than two.
FALL CHANGES HOW WE MOVE
Get the gaiters, microspikes and poles out. All three will help you stay out there comfortably for hours, move more confidently through wet terrain, and help prevent slips and falls.
It's about to get wet - enjoy the change of seasons.