[pct-l] 80 lbs

[Scott Williams]

Well Diane, the reality this summer was that the vast majority of folks I
met thru hiking, from begining to end, follow your method.  They wore trail
runners, street runners, and sometimes light "semi" boots, and had below 15
lb base weight packs.  In the High Sierra, some switched to real boots, or
light weight boots, and couldn't wait to change back to their lighter weight
foot wear.  Some traded back before even leaving the Sierra, as the rest of
us in tennis shoes and traction devices were doing fine.  After several
weeks of light weight boots, one in our party switched back to her tennis
shoes due to foot pain, which went away shortly after putting on her running
shoes.  Another stayed in his boots, and also did just fine.  And thank you
Ned for your heavy weight pack, boots and experience nonetheless.

One fellow I met south of Mt. Hood had been hiking on and off for over 10
months, primarily by himself, from Florida to the Olympic Peninsula in WA.
He'd made it to Oregon in his original pair of heavy boots, which he loved,
and which had finally fallen apart several days before I met him.  He had
recently switched to a second pair of boots which he had left at home, all
broken in and ready to be used as a backup.  Unfortunately his feet had
changed shape, and probably grown considerably over 10 months, and when I
met him, he was almost crippled with blisters and foot pain.  He was a great
guy and I had a fun afternoon hearing his stories of hiking across the deep
South, (mostly on roads) and his early crossing of the Rockies, and then we
would stop to re-bandage his feet.  He knew very little about UL hiking or
gear, as he was not really part of the UL/thru hiking community.  He had
joined the PCT recently in Oregon, and met a few of us and seen everyone
hiking in really light weight shoes.  He had never considered wearing tennis
shoes, but after several days on the PCT and contact with several of us UL
hikers, was on his way to Portland to buy a pair of trail runners so he
could finish his trail, as he was close to quitting when we met.

Tennis shoes do not cut an edge the way that my old Vasque Vibrum soled real
boots used to, but on the other hand, once you find the pair that really
fits, there is almost no break in, which was always required and always
painful for me in the old days.  In contrast, whenever anyone of us got a
new pair of tennis shoes in our resupply box, it was a time for celebration,
because they felt so good on our feet.  Neon and I sang songs and danced at
Saied Valley as both of our trail runners were in shreds at that point, and
we both got new shoes.

My old boots got better as they aged, and the foot issues would improve,
tennis shoes simply wear out.  As my trail runners aged, my feet would start
to hurt and I would experience much more foot fatigue by the end of the
day.  Changing to a new pair solved it every time, and in 2650+ miles, I had
not one blister.  I could often run the trail, and not just walk.  If you
end up using light weight shoes, just make sure they are the perfect fit
before you leave, as plastic and nylon do not change shape very much during
extended wear, as leather does, and then buy 4 or 5 pair as they seem to
last between 500 and 700 miles.  Neon and I had put on at least 900+ miles
on the pair we traded out at Saied Valley, and that was way too many miles
for those shoes to handle.

And then there's Amoeba, one of my favorite hikers his year who in her mid
60's has hiked the AT twice in crocks, and hiked the deserts with us this
year in them as well.  A great lady who simply couldn't find boots or tennis
shoes that let her hike pain free, and while fleeing the AT in severe foot
pain in her "camp shoes", a pair of crocks, found that she was pain free.
She's been hiking in them ever since.  If you are lucky enough to spend time
hiking with her, she's is a really wonderful human being, and a thru hiker
to boot.  Imagine that.

There are so many ways to do it.  Just try to find pain free foot wear
before you start or you may be walking out in your camp shoes.

Shroomer






On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 3:08 PM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

>
> On Oct 25, 2010, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> > From: Reinhold Metzger <reinholdmetzger at cox.net>
> > Subject: [pct-l]  80 lbs
> > To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> > Message-ID: <4CC5A956.2090107 at cox.net>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> >
> > Really Diane....is that so?
> > Did you ever consider that Ned or the other "Heavy Truckers", that
> > you have
> > a tendency to ridicule, also have good reasons to carry heavy
> > backpacks?
>
> I said that Hiro has a perfectly good reason to carry a heavy pack.
> He carries stuff for his wife and camera equipment. And then I made a
> joke that he'd go ultralight when there was a Japanese article to
> site, which was teasing him because he frequently cites erudite
> japanese articles on the topics he writes. Maybe you didn't see
> my ;-) emoticon?
>
> Anyway, I'm glad the returning hikers are posting again because now
> there will be more realism when it comes to gear recommendations and
> you all won't think Chuck and I are the only whack-jobs out there who
> wear trail runners instead of boots, carry sub-20lb base weights or
> whatever.
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