[at-l] Feet hurt

[Amy Forinash]

On Sep 26, 2008, at 7:42 PM, Andrew Claus wrote:

> So far, lots of good replies about shoes but I think only Stitches  
> mentioned reducing pack weight.  That may be the single most  
> important variable here.  Did you ever mention how much you're  
> carrying?  And what kind of shoes you use now?  I'll bet a sub-15- 
> pound base pack weight and comfortable trail runners will solve the  
> problem.  Trail runners may not be best if you're carrying 40+  
> pounds.  Good luck!

Measured my pack weight before I left on my last section.  I was  
carrying 26.5 pounds including water and food.  I do use hiking  
poles.  This time I was wearing some variant of Vasque hiking boots -  
last time out it was Merrell shoes.  I've found trail runners to be  
extremely comfortable to my soles but to lead to many more blisters  
than boots typically do (New Balance) or my foot slides down to the  
toe on downhills (Merrell).  The Merrells seemed like maybe they'd  
work out if I could figure out how to add a little bulk to the sole  
and tongue.  Bulky hiking socks didn't help, they stretched with my  
feet on the downhills.  I tried to find tongue padding to buy but  
failed.

-amy