Made For Walkin’: Chasing Tides

Photo by Ryan McArthur

The Juice

Crabcakes, football, and Under Armour- that’s what Maryland does. Even if we’re on the verge of throwing soup on the Mona Lisa to get them to bring back the Maryland Terrapins 2002 Gary Williams and Juan Dixon-era basketball uniforms, every athlete growing up in the DMV reps their Under Armour with pride.

Beyond college uniforms and performance gear, Under Armour has constructed maybe the most kick-ass wading boot that wasn’t really made to be a wading boot to grace the muddy flats of the Chesapeake Bay. Those would be the UA HOVR Dawn Waterproof 2.0 Boots.

The Squeeze 

I’ve decided I’m too old to mess my feet up. I’m long past walking across blue stone parking lots or scorching mid-summer sand to impress my fellow dudes with how my “beach feet” are holding up. I know hardcore marsh rats out there will walk the oyster beds in search of tailing redfish with no inhibition; they normally ramble something about being one with the estuary. Not me. Not anymore. 

I tried wading in my Chaco slides last summer. It only took one step in deeper-than-expected mud, and BAM—she gone, strap broken under the weight of a foot just trying to lift itself back to the surface so I wouldn’t topple over and be in the drink completely. That’s when I knew I was in the market for some full-blown water shoes.

My buddy brought the HOVR Dawns to my attention. He swore by them on his trip out west chasing elk and mule deer. He trekked the Rocky Mountains—yes, the Rocky Mountains in them—and couldn’t get enough of how lightweight and durable they are. That’s obviously way more intense than making sure you don’t stub your toe on a stray oyster, but to each their own in the way of (not so) cheap thrills.

They’re the dream boot. Over here on the East Coast, you never know how far you’ll have to stomp through marshes or treelines to get to your coastal fishing spot; but sleep easy knowing the HOVR Dawns have you covered from the Rockies to the flats. 

It doesn’t hurt to have an athletic undertone in your footwear if you were to say, I don’t know, shortcut your way from the flat to the road through a treeline that, unbeknownst to you, had every mosquito on the eastern seaboard just waiting to tear you up your whole dead sprint back to the car. They come in handy for that, too.

Via Chasing Tides Collective: Things We Like Newsletter

Photo by Ryan McArthur