[pct-l] Debating about boots...How many?

[Kevin Cook]

@Shroomer, I just had a mental image of Crocs and MicroSpikes :) bahhahaha

Crystal, if you prefer boots, wear boots. Someone recently posted a link to
a study (I think it was Yoshi) that determined extra weight on your feet had
little impact on hiking. It seems counter-intuitive, but that's what the
study found. That being said, I've switched to runners and have been
training in them.

If the boots you have give you blisters, then don't use them on the PCT.
Unfortunately, Steel-Eye is right, a "heavy" boot will require significant
break in. I don't know that you couldn't break them in in time though. If
you got them very very soon, you could wear them 100% of the time and try to
get out hiking as much as possible. They won't be fully broken in, but you
will at least know if they are comfortable.

In general, the lighter weight shoes, ie runners or cheaper boots, require
little or no break in. I've hiked in a lot of inexpensive Hi-Tec boots
bought on sale at Big-5. I get a few hundred miles from a pair easilly, but
I would think 500-600 might be the best you could hope for. They have Vibram
soles, so they work pretty well for me.

I also agree you shouldn't buy a bunch now. You don't know how your feet are
going to change. You might change you mind about what you want to wear also.
There are enough places along the way to get off trail and buy new shoes.
Just plan to do that.

See ya on the trial. 54 days to go!

On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 9:59 AM, Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Crystal,
>
> I wouldn't buy more than one pair of anything until you're sure they are
> what you want to hike in.  And three years of trying with the goretex is
> too
> long already.  Many newer boots and trail runners don't really break in the
> way older leather footwear used to.  There's just too much plastic and
> nylon
> in them and that doesn't change shape very much with wearing.  That being
> said, those types of shoes should fit perfectly from the start.  If you get
> blisters, they are far from that.  Most good shoe stores and REI, guarantee
> their shoes and the fit.  I've returned several pair over the years because
> after the first serious hike, they weren't comfortable.  Check out a lot of
> different shoes, now before hitting trail.
>
> As for the debate over boots vs trail runners, I'm in the trail runner camp
> for sure.  I loved my old vibrum soled boots, but they always gave me a
> blister or two.  Last summer I hiked 2,600 miles in trail runners with not
> one blister, and the lightweight shoes dried quickly after the stream
> crossings.  I love them, but then there's Amoeba, a 65 year old woman who
> began the AT in boots several years ago and had to limp off trail in tennis
> shoes.  She tried again in tennis shoes and still had problems and limped
> off trail in Crocs.  They felt so good that she continued hiking and has
> now
> thru hiked the AT twice in Crocs, and did the deserts last spring on the
> PCT, (where I met her) in them as well.  I don't know that they'd handle
> the
> snow, or even if she even has any desire to hike in snow with them, but the
> point is that all kinds of foot wear is usable.  I saw barefoot prints in
> the sierra ahead of us last year.
>
> Whatever you decide upon, make sure they fit well right from the start. If
> you go with real leather boots, hiking in them wet used to break them in
> faster for us years ago.  We had to evac a young woman from the Wonderland
> Trail 2 years ago who had ill fitting boots and didn't break them in
> properly first.  Her huge blisters got infected and one foot swelled with
> infection, and the rangers had to get her out.  Antibiotics fixed it, but
> don't start the trail if you know you'll get blisters.
>
> Good Luck,
>
> Shroomer
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