[pct-l] Feet Swelling

[Sean 'Miner' Nordeen]

I started the trail in April 2009 with a half size larger in a pair of new balance shoes.  They were the same pair that I had been going backpacking in for the past year on trips lasting 2 to 6 days and never had any problems with blisters.  

However, due to the hotter evnironment of the PCT, I started to get blisters by day 2.  After 2 weeks on the trail, I went home to heal up from an injury and I found that my normal size shoes didn't fit and realized that my half size larger shoes now fit perfect.  I promptly bought new shoes that were 1.5 sizes larger then I normally wore and I wore that size for the rest of the trip.  When I returned home, I couldn't even wear my original size shoes with any comfort until 3 months latter.

I normally use superfeet insoles and used the same sized insole was used no matter what size of Shoe I bought since they were all in the same size range.  I suspect this helped my comfort since I was always getting similar arch support no matter what size I wore and they helped keep my feet from moving around in the shoe as easily.

So what you can do is start with the smaller shoes but keep a pair oif larger shoes available (say in a bounce box) in case you need them (or you can attempt to buy a larger pair in Idyllwild or Big Bear if you decide you need them).  You can decide on what your final shoe size is on the trail.

-Miner

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Check my 2009 PCT Journal out at www.postholer.com/Miner