6 Amazing Summer Water Adventures
When it comes to summer adventure, are you more of a Class V adrenaline junkie or a frequent farmers’ market shopper who loves to grill fresh produce after a round of frisbee golf?
Both? Other?
Whatever it is that floats your boat, summer adventure requires the same supportive, protective footwear that you need in the fall, winter and spring. That’s not to say you can’t air out your feet with open-toed kicks some of the time. Just as you’re ready for sun and warmth after a long winter, so are your feet. However, sandal weather doesn’t mean you need to abandon arch support, durability and comfort. Oboz has lightweight water shoes that are ideal for a multitude of summer adventures.
Packrafting
“Pack it in, raft it out.” So begins the code of ethics of the American Packrafting Association, a member advocacy group that’s keen to share the simplicity and joy of using a small, lightweight (less than ten pounds) inflatable raft to go anywhere a bigger boat can. Packrafters carry their rafts and deploy them to get across landscapes where rivers and animals run free and wild.
Dream Trip: Alaska’s Denali National Park. With six million acres of wild land, Denali National Park would take days to explore even if it had a developed network of trails. Instead, visitors get rugged wilderness, enormous mountains (including 20,310-foot Denali itself) and remote rivers that are a packrafter’s dream.
Oboz Footwear Selection: Men’s & Women’s Sun Kosi, $109; Men’s & Women’s Sawtooth II Mid Waterproof, $179
SUP
One of the best things about Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) is that it can be easy enough to do with a toddler or adventurous enough for an endorphin-laced explorer. Boards come for a range of disciplines, from whitewater to river and leisure to racing.
Dream Trip: Banff-Lake Louise. There are few mountain ranges like western Alberta’s Rockies. Seeing these jagged peaks from the rivers and lakes in the Bow River glacial valley should be on every adventurer’s life-list.
Oboz Footwear Selection: Men’s & Women’s Sun Kosi, $109; Men’s & Women’s Selway Flip, $65
Fly fishing
Montana’s waterways have long been home to some of the world’s most avid anglers, thanks to the abundance of trout and other species that thrive in the state’s rivers. We love fly fishing because it requires patience, focus and letting go… kind of like all important things in life.
Dream Trip: Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park. It doesn’t get more elemental than fly fishing the Firehole in May as wild bison graze along the river banks. The likelihood that a grizzly bear, moose or wolf will amble by is high.
Oboz Footwear Selection: Men’s & Women’s Sun Kosi, $109
Boating
Boating can mean so many things to so many people. It can be sea kayaking with whales in Baja, Mexico or sailing through British Columbia’s Gulf Islands. It can be a cooler of cold beverages on a speedboat with a set of water skis and an entire day on the lake or rowing the dory down the river just because you can.
Dream Trip: This one’s up to you, friends.
Oboz Footwear Selection: Men’s & Women’s Sun Kosi, $109; Men’s & Women’s Selway Flip, $65
River Crossing
Some of the best backcountry backpacking trips demand thigh-high river crossings. When you’re mid-way through rushing, snow-melt-cold water, there’s no thinking about the minutiae of the day-to-day. A good river crossing is bracing, engaging and gets you to the other side. And isn’t that where we’re all headed, anyways?
Dream Trip: White Cloud Wilderness Loop in Stanley, Idaho. Ditch the crowds in this multi-day trek through the Sawtooth Mountains.
Oboz Footwear Selection: Men’s & Women’s Campster, $95; Men’s & Women’s Sawtooth II Mid Waterproof, $179
Local Micro Adventure
You don’t have to go big or far to have an adventure. Whether you live on the water or near a small, seasonal stream, strap on your water shoes and go out looking for fun. Fish for crawdads, skip rocks, follow the creek all the way to its source. Enjoy.
Dream Trip: Your backyard (here are a few tips on how to have the perfect micro adventure)
Oboz Footwear Selection: Men’s & Women’s Campster, $95; Men’s & Women’s Sun Kosi, $109; Men’s & Women’s Selway Flip, $65
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