[pct-l] Ankles

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I've been steadily working my way down from high-top to low-top to  
more and more minimalist footwear. I have noticed with each step down  
that my ankles get a real workout. My most recent attempt was to hike  
on a trail wearing some homemade sandals with fairly thin soles. I  
would have thought that my homemade shoes were minimal enough, but I  
guess the sandals were just that much more minimal. They worked out  
well and feeling the workout in my ankles makes me pretty happy. Even  
if I never go backpacking in them, I think it's good to gain strength  
in the feet and ankles. I never could figure out how boots could  
protect your ankles from sprains anyway because nobody ever tightens  
them enough to make a cast or brace out of them. Their ankles are  
always clearly visible moving around as much as anybody's and in  
fact, whenever I watch people walk in boots, they tend to step  
without care at all, clumsily crashing into rocks and things, taking  
no care to avoid things that could injure them and tipping the ankle  
more often than people in shoes. But whatever floats your boat.