[pct-l] Feet Swelling

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Jun 7, 2010, at 8:46 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> While we're on the subject of feet, I've been getting blisters on  
> the balls of my feet, right behind my second toes, which seems to  
> be a strange place to get blisters.  It's also a pretty darned near  
> debilitating place and I was forced off the trail a couple of years  
> ago and had to do some concerted damage control to avoid the same  
> last June.  Is there something different that leads to blisters on  
> that part of the foot vs. on other parts such as the heel or toe  
> edges?

I've hiked all over and with all kinds of ill-fitting footwear and  
never got blisters in that spot until I hit the PCT. I don't know  
what it is about that trail. Others I hiked with at the time also had  
blisters there, too, sometimes gruesome ones. The only thing I can  
think of is I never hiked a trail so level and smooth as the PCT  
before, with half-day long climbs and descents and hours and hours of  
contouring, so maybe that was it. Every other trail I've ever been on  
-- I live and hike in So Cal and have hiked in the Sierras and Nepal  
-- has more variable ups and downs, rocks to step up on, steeper  
hills, degraded or non-existent tread. It's the only difference I can  
think of.


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