[pct-l] Boot Wear Patterns

[Rick Ostheimer]

I wore boots on my 08 PCT thru and on my 06 AT thru.  I gained about a 
size on the AT thru and had purchased boots a size larger so was OK.  I 
did not add an additional size after the PCT.

I did try trail runners on the PCT from Ashland to Sisters, about 280 
miles.  At first I enjoyed the light weight of the trail runners, but 
they gave me nasty blisters on the sides of my heels and after the 
blisters healed, I noticed that my feet were very sore by days end.  I 
had planned to hike all of OR in the trail runners, but called the 
Cascade Locks post office and forwarded my bounce bucket back to Sisters 
in order to switch back to my boots. 

In terms of wear, I had about 500 miles on my boots (LaSportiva Makalus) 
when I started the AT and made it to Gorham, NH before the vibram soles 
finally had worn smooth.  They had about 2000 miles on them when I 
switched to a backup pair I broke in before the hike.  On the PCT, my 
boots made it all the way, but by Skykomish the vibram sole had worn 
completely through at the toe of one boot and I used shoe goo and duct 
tape for the remainder of the trip.  With the fire closures and the 
miles I wore the trail runners, the boots made about 2320 miles.  When I 
got to Seattle, I had them resoled at Dave, the Cobbler's and am wearing 
them on short backpacking trips around home.  I plan to wear them on the 
CDT next year.

YMMV.

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