Kora - Yes, I wore crocks doing this. What can I say, they are comfortable But in all seriousness, I thought that if I wore shoes and socks my feet would get sweaty, slippery, and sore. I wore full body clothing to avoid sunburn (It was VERY hot and my pale skin would have been toast after an hour of two of direct sunlight.) and because I was walking around in sweaty clothes all day I had rashes all over my body by the time I got to the top of the mountain. (The rashes alone would have made most people quit I imagine.) The PhytoAthlete - Yes, this is real. I stopped at the top of every single hill to rest and re-hydrate myself. Every hill was brutal! My legs were burning like crazy and my throat would get super dry due to heavy breathing and just being in that hot environment. I ate dried fruit because I felt that I would need lots of dense calories that where quick and easy to eat that day. I also ate 3 jars of olives because a friend of mine who does a lot of outdoor running warned me that I could be in a lot of trouble if I spent all day sweating and exhausting myself and didn't take in any salt, and olives have salt added to them. Oh yeah, I also ate 4 avocados because I just got a feeling that more fat be beneficial... Not sure why I thought that, but I know that I enjoyed eating them that day. I'm not sure how much water I drank, but I imagine that it was 3 - 4 gallons. I basically "grazed" all day rather than sitting down long enough to eat a big meal which probably would have made me feel full and tired.