Socks

Hi Andrea: I have all kinds of SmartWool socks - from liners to work socks to walking to hiking socks. All of them are fabulous. The thing to keep in mind is the thickness of the sock - you don't want one that will be too thick for your shoes or leave so much room your foot will be sliding around. What I suggest is that if you already have the shoe you're going to be traveling with, to take those with you and try on the socks to see what works best with your shoe. It shouldn't take long for you to get a feel of how thick hiking socks are vs. walking socks, etc. (Places like REI are pretty good about letting you do that, especially if they already have an open pair. Or you can buy it and return it if it doesn't work out.).

I second the advice to make sure the socks fit your shoes. Don't wear ultra thick socks with shoes you normally wear dress socks with. If the socks are too thick, you can reduce the circulation in your feet and be worse off than if you just wore regular socks.

There are some good wool socks at Costco right now.

I like wool socks, they're warm and hand wash/hang dry well. I would avoid cotton blends; the cotton loses it's insulation factor when it gets wet (from either perspiration or precipitation) and takes longer to hang dry.

I pack acrylic socks mostly, but I'm traveling in late Spring or early Fall when the weather is somewhat warmer.

Andrea - It looks like there are three REI stores near you. One in Sacramento, one in Folsom and one in Roseville. I'd suggest stopping by and looking at the socks in person with the shoes you would like to wear.

http://www.rei.com/FindStores

It is true that socks are as important as the shoe. However, the sock and shoe have to be fitted together. I wear a medium weight wool sock year around that I buy at Sams. About 90% lambs wool with some synthetic for shape and stretch. I think SmartWool is very over priced for what you get.