[pct-l] Another Question about Brooks Cascadia

[mkwart at gci.net]

Eric:

There is a lot of dirt road walking on the AZT which is the ultimate 
flat repetitive walking and I never noticed an increase in blister 
proneness doing those sections. I have done the PCT--the longest section 
was 1000 miles--the southern california desert and the state of 
Washington--and didn't get blisters. There may be a correlation to 
higher mileage and blisters, although many people hike high mileage and 
don't get blisters on the AZT--doing 25-30 mile days. Even tho they 
don't have to do high mileage days to finish, they still do.

Blisters happen because of a combination of many things--a"perfect 
storm" that perhaps is brought to a head on the PCT. Perhaps social 
pressure to hike high mileage and keep up with others on the PCT and 
having to ignore discomfort without taking care of it for long periods 
of time adds to the fact more people get blisters on the PCT. Plus the 
heat of the desert is something hikers from back east may not have 
experience with and that is the first section everyone tackles if they 
hike from south to north. And I bet a lot of people change their hiking 
shoes to more lighter weight, a different brand, etc. before they tackle 
the PCT because tackling a trail so large seems to warrant revising 
tried and true hiking gear.

Fireweed


On Thu, May 24, 2012 at 11:19 AM , Eric Lee wrote:

> Fireweed wrote:
>>
> I just finshed hiking the 800 mile Arizona Trail and didn't get one 
> blister.
> The tread of that trail (when it exists) is a lot rockier than on the 
> PCT
> and the trail is not as well graded, so it was a real test of my shoes 
> and
> insoles.
>>
>
> Just a note about trail tread and blisters: I know a lot of 
> experienced
> hikers (thru-hiked the AT, etc.) come out to the PCT and end up with 
> big
> blister problems that they've never had before.  This is pure 
> speculation
> but I think part of the problem on the PCT is actually that the trail 
> tread
> is usually pretty smooth and well graded so you end up doing precisely 
> the
> same motions with your feet over and over all day without the 
> variation that
> a more rocky, uneven trail surface would induce.  You also have to do 
> higher
> daily mileage than on other long trails.
>
> Just something I've noticed.
>
> Eric