When I camp in the winter, it's difficult to keep everything toasty warm. My feet are always the first to get cold and they always take the longest to warm up. I understand it's my body's priority to maintain core temperature, which requires it to decrease blood flow to the extremities. Here are some tricks that will help you to keep your feet warm, even in the coldest conditions:

1. Warm winter boots: I usually wear my hiking boots, which don't have much lining, for daytime when we're snowshoeing and moving around. My feet are fine during the day, but I always carry a pair of warmer winter boots to wear around the campsite - where we do a lot of standing around. And after a long day of snowshoeing, I am always so grateful to have another pair of warmer boots to put on.
2. Wear one pair of socks: Two pairs take up too much room in your boots, which will cut circulation - and make your feet cold.
3. Wiggle your toes: While at the campsite, your feet will get cold -there's no way around this. Remember what you grade school teachers told you though - wiggle, wiggle, wiggle!
4. Use foot warmers: They're small, inexpensive and really help to warm up your feet if wiggling your toes just isn't doing it for you!
5. Borrow a friend's armpits: What?! You're probably thinking "is this girl for real" Seriously though, if your feet are cold, putting them in another person's armpits will warm them up in no time through a simple transfer of body heat.
6. Sleep with your liners: This will prevent your liners from freezing overnight. Believe me, starting out with warm boots in the morning is much better than donning cold, rock-hard boots.
7. Wear booties: Light-weight, compressible, camp booties are perfect for in the tent or cabin. A friend of mine had some on our last winter hiking trip, and she said they kept her feet, which are always cold, warm the whole time. They also had grips on the bottom, so she could wear them on the snow and around the campsite. I tried them on - it felt like I was walking on clouds.

Ready to start shopping? Nomadik has all the latest on winter hiking boots.

Kim Bowerman,
Nomadik Personal Fitness Expert