[pct-l] Foot Expansion

[Randy Godfrey]

Very interesting, Scott. I've never done a long distance hike, just many 8 or 9 day trips. My shoes have been the same 9.5 or 10 (depending on the manufacturer) since I was in high school and I'm 58 now. It's just so difficult to envision. Maybe our ancestors, who roamed the continents on foot, all had size 13 feet.

Randy




________________________________
 From: Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com>
To: Gary Minetti <gary.minetti at gmail.com> 
Cc: Randy Godfrey <randy3833 at yahoo.com>; "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net> 
Sent: Friday, February 1, 2013 9:15 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Foot Expansion
 

More than fifty percent of your bones are in your two little feet.  They are very small bones, but there are a lot of them.  These are sophisticated evolutionary equipment designed to keep us upright, walking and running hundreds of miles.  When you really use your feet, as in a thru hike, all the incredible network of muscles grow and become stronger and bigger, and the structure of the foot seems to actually spread, hence the need for a wider toe box.  But what also happens is that the many, many cartilage caps on the ends of all these little bones also get bigger.  When you use something, the body sends what is needed to protect it and strengthen it, and that increases the length of each bone, just slightly.  Given the large number of bones in your feet, it actually causes the lengthening of your foot overall.  At least that's what I understand causes the foot growth for long distance hikers. 

From age 15 to 57, I always measured as a size 9.5.  After starting to seriously hike, however, they grew to somewhere between 11.5 and 12.  That's been where they've stayed for the past few years, so I think that's a permanent change.  

As noted in the previous posts, there's a lot of variation in what folks experience with shoes sizes changing or not.  Most thru hikers it seems do have larger feet by the time they hit the Sierra.  Had I stocked up on shoes at the beginning, I would have been giving them away as the originals were so painfully tight by the time I entered the Sierra snows that I couldn't wear them.  

If you start with the shoe that is just right for you now, don't stock up on them just yet.  I changed packs twice, rain gear once, added other things and sent a bunch of stuff home, and bought new shoes which were sent to different post offices along the way.  You can change and modify lots of things right from trail or from the trail towns you'll be in, and there's a good chance that shoes will be one of them.

Shroomer