[pct-l] 80 lbs

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

On Oct 25, 2010, at 5:07 PM, Scott Williams wrote:

> And then there's Amoeba, one of my favorite hikers his year who in  
> her mid
> 60's has hiked the AT twice in crocks, and hiked the deserts with  
> us this
> year in them as well.  A great lady who simply couldn't find boots  
> or tennis
> shoes that let her hike pain free, and while fleeing the AT in  
> severe foot
> pain in her "camp shoes", a pair of crocks, found that she was pain  
> free.
> She's been hiking in them ever since.  If you are lucky enough to  
> spend time
> hiking with her, she's is a really wonderful human being, and a  
> thru hiker
> to boot.  Imagine that.
>
> There are so many ways to do it.  Just try to find pain free foot wear
> before you start or you may be walking out in your camp shoes.
>
> Shroomer

I met Amoeba on Mt. Laguna! She was really nice. I don't remember her  
wearing Crocs but maybe I didn't look.

I wore Crocs a few times on the trail. I found they worked well if I  
put my Superfeet insoles in them. The plastic thing in the insoles  
made a sort of rock plate. I met a guy in Oregon backpacking in Crocs  
and carrying on his pack a pair of giant clunky boots. He said those  
were for climbing. He was climbing all the volcanos.

I don't often recommend to the list the shoes I have been using  
recently. I usually recommend what most people use and what I used  
most on the trail, which are trail runners or lightweight hikers.  
Lately I've hiked in Chacos. I hiked 66 miles of the PCT near Chester  
and 80 miles in and around the JMT over Muir Pass (in August, NOT  
JUNE!!! They would not work in snow!) My feet were pretty happy.

Lately I've been learning to make shoes myself. I plan to make my own  
hiking shoes if I can. I have had a lot of trouble with shoes,  
including trail runners. When shoes are too stiff or too "shaped" I  
get neuromas, numbness, metatarsal stress fractures, shooting pains,  
pains in my legs, I limp, I ache, I leave the trail in tears and go  
home. That's the reason I didn't even reach my section hiker goal in  
2008 to hike the whole state of California.

I've run a bunch of tests taking long walks in various kinds of  
shoes. Trail runners actually hurt me a lot more than moccasins do.  
But I can't quite hike in moccasins, although I've tried. Chacos are  
like a miracle to my feet, but man they have bad traction. You should  
have seen how bloody I was after hiking the JMT this summer. Still, I  
was darn happy with them. Happy feet = happy hiker!

Diane