Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Compression socks for Whitney dayhike -- yay, or nay?

Anyone worn compression socks while day hiking Whitney, and if so, can you comment on whether you felt they were helpful? I don't normally wear them, but I also don't normally hike 22 miles in a day, so I'm wondering if they could help reduce fatigue in the feet/calves.

Thanks for any input!

Beth

Beth - Welcome to the board.

I have no experience with compression socks, however, if you think you might use them on Whitney please try them on a training hike before your Whitney hike. A Whitney day hike is no place to try new equipment.

What Wazzu said is a God's honest truth. Everything should be tried and tested before you head to Mt. Whitney for the first time.

And that means everything - no matter how small. I once went up Whitney in a pair of convertible pants that I had not worn in months, only to find that the fly zipper was broken. No other long pants in my gear. Do you have any idea how distracting it is to hike a populated highway like the MWMT with your fly open the entire way?

In regards to the zipper, But it makes for a great story! Got me laughing.

It happened to my Northface light weight pants at Tuolumne Meadows (3 days into JMT). Continued the rest of JMT with my rain jkt pulled fully in front! Then the belt button gave away at Reds Meadow. So forced to use the spare tent rope as my belt. At one point my back pack was holding my pants! Good incentive to finish JMT fast!

Northface did repair all the zippers and belt free of charge (looks like they have life time warranty on the pants (per REI) and now they are ready for HST!

Sorry to digress!