[pct-l] Foot Expansion

[Scott Williams]

More than fifty percent of your bones are in your two little feet.  They
are very small bones, but there are a lot of them.  These are sophisticated
evolutionary equipment designed to keep us upright, walking and running
hundreds of miles.  When you really use your feet, as in a thru hike, all
the incredible network of muscles grow and become stronger and bigger, and
the structure of the foot seems to actually spread, hence the need for a
wider toe box.  But what also happens is that the many, many cartilage caps
on the ends of all these little bones also get bigger.  When you use
something, the body sends what is needed to protect it and strengthen it,
and that increases the length of each bone, just slightly.  Given the large
number of bones in your feet, it actually causes the lengthening of your
foot overall.  At least that's what I understand causes the foot growth for
long distance hikers.

>From age 15 to 57, I always measured as a size 9.5.  After starting to
seriously hike, however, they grew to somewhere between 11.5 and 12.
 That's been where they've stayed for the past few years, so I think that's
a permanent change.

As noted in the previous posts, there's a lot of variation in what folks
experience with shoes sizes changing or not.  Most thru hikers it seems do
have larger feet by the time they hit the Sierra.  Had I stocked up on
shoes at the beginning, I would have been giving them away as the originals
were so painfully tight by the time I entered the Sierra snows that I
couldn't wear them.

If you start with the shoe that is just right for you now, don't stock up
on them just yet.  I changed packs twice, rain gear once, added other
things and sent a bunch of stuff home, and bought new shoes which were sent
to different post offices along the way.  You can change and modify lots of
things right from trail or from the trail towns you'll be in, and there's a
good chance that shoes will be one of them.

Shroomer