[pct-l] Barefoot Hiking

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

Ray Jardine actually recommended a period of time hiking barefoot  
each day for therapeutic purposes. He says, "It's a great way to  
toughen ailing feet, both internally and externally. Leg pains can  
disappear after walking only a short distance barefoot - a fact which  
points to the footwear as the culprit. I consider regular but brief  
stints of barefoot hiking both a preventative and something of a cure."

You might consider bringing some moccasins or other non-intrusive  
footwear for this purpose if you don't want to go completely barefoot  
and just wear them some of the time. I have been doing a lot of  
hiking in Altra running shoes, which is a new minimalist brand that  
offers a couple of models with a bit of padding, and I've done a lot  
of backpacking in Chaco sandals, which aren't that minimal but they  
are somewhat less minimal because they are sandals. Anything more  
minimal than that and I feel a need to switch back to regular shoes  
after a few miles if only to get in some power miles.

On Jan 21, 2012, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Subject: [pct-l] Barefoot Hiking
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAJ9hrMUCZSqn_Bx6Q0rQLhqP+0Fk44yqxtMzAqqVqfCOG-iSJA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Hello everyone,  Does anyone have experience hiking barefoot? I have a
> strained Achilles tendon that I have been trying to recover from,  
> and I
> looked into the philosophy of barefoot running/walking and was  
> intrigued by
> it. I normally do not like to wear shoes, and really only wear them  
> when I
> am hiking, walking or backpacking. In the past, before my injury,   
> I would
> often walk barefoot with no problems. But since I strained my heel,  
> I have
> been wearing shoes most all the time. Well, as part of my own  
> therapy, I
> thought I would start to walk barefoot just to see where it would  
> go, and *
> viola!* the soreness in my heel was reduced by half during my walks  
> and
> reduced post walk. I am excited about this discovery and want to  
> expand on
> it. I believe the shoes and boots I have been wearing have been  
> pressing
> against the back of my heel, causing it to be sore. I am not 100  
> percent
> yet, but I think I am on my way. I am thru hiking the PCT this year  
> and
> want my feet to be in the best shape possible. I know I cannot thru  
> hike
> barefoot, as I have hiked sections of the PCT in my area, 
> ( Tehachapi Pass
> to Kennedy Meadows) the terrain would be ferocious on bare feet.  
> But as a
> part of training, and maybe a pair of minimalist shoes for  
> backpacking,
> maybe I can pull this off after all. I don't know if feet need some  
> kind of
> "support" while carrying a heavy load. Any help would be really
> appreciated. Thanks,  Mark