[pct-l] Re: foot size growing on a thruhike of PCT

[charliethorpe@worldnet.att.net (Charlie Thorpe)]

Hello Joanne -

You asked:

>...Am I now partially immune to the 1 and
>1/2 to 2and1/2 shoe size foot growth that Ray Jardine talks about...

I haven't experienced that much foot growth on any of my long hikes, but I
did bump up a size on the AT and almost a size on the PCT.

On the AT my feet grew a full size before I was out of the 100-mile
Wilderness (I was a southbounder).  Caught me completely by surprise and I
was pretty doggone uncomfortable when I finally made it to the Shaws' to
wait for bigger boots.  My feet were sore at the end of the trip, but they
finally quit hurting as they "shrunk" back to normal size after months of
taking it easy.

I anticipated a similar problem on the PCT, so I started out with a boot
that was "too big" and wore an extra mid-weight sock as filler until my
feet slowly grew to fit the boots.  Same problem with sore feet at the end
of the hike.

I decided to get some expert help from the ortho doc's after the PCT hike
and we did x-rays, electrical muscle stimulation, physical therapy, and
finally a custom orthotic to fit into my shoes.

The general conclusion was that I was about as dumb as one of those rocks I
was walking on!

My boots were very "low volume" (almost flat footbed) and I simply needed a
LOT more arch support than I was getting in that particular boot.
Apparently my foot was "growing in size" because my arch (and those
interconnected 27 bones in each foot) was flattening out as I walked for so
many miles with a backpack.  My foot "shrunk" during the months after each
thru-hike because I was slowly able to regain my normal arch over time.

I chunked the custom orthotic inserts as my feet got back to normal (they
were set up for bigger feet than I was now wearing <g>).

I guess that I should have had a clue about what was going on.  My son
hiked with me during the first 700 miles of the AT and during all of the
PCT.  He wore exactly the same boots that I did and at least one of his
feet should be exactly like mine (half of his genes DID come from me, after
all...).  He never had any problem with his feet growing, shrinking, or
anything else...other than smelling (and we solved that when we discovered
"airwashing" <g>).  He was wearing custom orthotic inserts during both
hikes.

I decided to try another longish hike and I wanted to use the same boots
that I used on the last 1,500 miles of the PCT (I am curious as to how long
they will last).  I shopped around and settled on a pair of "SuperFeet"
inserts.  I found a pair that was a little big overall, but gave me really
good arch support.  I trimmed the inserts down to fit my boots and I hit
the trail.

Did a little over 400 miles of the CDT (northern Colorado) this fall and
had absolutely no problem with my feet (including smelling...since I
"airwashed" the entire hike <g>).  I did get caught by t-storms way up
above treeline a few times, got tangled up in that 4-million tree blowdown
near Mt. Zirkel, got "lost" more than once, and learned (once again!) that
I am not, by nature, a solo distance hiker...but my feet did fine!

Good luck with yours!

- Charlie II  AT (MEGA'93)
             PCT (Mex@Can'95)
     Chipping away at the CDT


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