[pct-l] PCT Barefoot

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning,

I will second Ellen’s comments.  Primitive people eschewed footwear most of
the time because making such was difficult and time-consuming, and in
day-to-day activities around the camp or the village protection wasn’t
really necessary.  If their feet became worn or sore they just walked less.
When a longer trip was necessary, such as during a migration or when on an
extended hunting trip, they used footwear of some sort; but those trips
certainly weren’t 2,663 miles in length – they were maybe 100-200 miles.   Here
is a good example of such footwear from about 10,000 years ago.  They are
from an area in Oregon about 50 miles east of the PCT:
http://www.uoregon.edu/~connolly/FRsandals.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Rock

Ray Jardine advocated occasionally hiking barefoot, but he seems to have
always worn clothing.  Colin Fletcher advocated occasionally hiking naked,
but he seems to have always worn shoes.  Oh my, oh my…. What are we to
believe?

Steel-Eye
Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 3:45 AM, Ellen Shopes <igellen at comcast.net> wrote:

> While I agree that our culture has probably over-engineered footwear, it is
> no accident that so many cultures discovered footwear, whether you are
> talking about the sandels of desert dwellers  and Asian cultures, moccasins
> of eastern woodland Indians, or shoes as we know it.  People found value in
> protecting their feet.  Even Barefoot Tom admits to some pretty nasty foot
> injuries...I don't think it's crazy to try, but I would condition one's
> feet
> alot before the hike, and bring some sort of protection as backup...
> Ellen
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Paul Mitchell" <bluebrain at bluebrain.ca>
> To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 8:18 PM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] PCT Barefoot
>
>
> > There's a fair bit of info online about barefoot hiking and running in
> > general.  It's quite compelling and after a couple hours of research it
> > seemed pretty obvious to me that if a person could make it work for
> > themselves (i.e. strengthen their feet up with barefoot training) that it
> > would be the way to go.  There are a number of benefits but the most
> > important one to me is the natural strengthening of the foot muscles to
> > form
> > a self supported arch (which is something the AT hiking barefoot sisters
> > mentioned as well), and in general a return to more natural walking which
> > effects everything from the feet up (knees, hips, etc).  I've read from
> > some
> > barefoot hikers that after a full day of barefoot hiking their feet feel
> > good, something they had never experienced when shod.  Having feet feel
> > good
> > at the end of a hiking day seemed like an interest idea!
> >
> > So, plenty of introductory information out there, but not much (that I
> > could
> > find) about the specifics of the PCT.  I.e. hot desert, cold snow, stream
> > crossings, mosquitoes, and just in general long distance bare footing.
> >
> > I'm also interested in the barefoot alternatives like the Vibram Five
> > Fingers, wondering if anybody has hiked in those.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > - Potential178
> >
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