One of the most famous trails in the United States, the Appalachian Trail. Stretching from Georgia to Maine and travels through some of the more spectacular east coast wilderness. Countless hikers set off and traverse parts of the trail and fewer take on the entire trail from start to finish. The thru-hikers, as they are called, take an average of 5-7 months of their lives to complete the trail. I am hoping to place among them in the near future.
For the past summer I’ve been hiking more and more getting my body accustomed to the rigors of the trail. Gaining endurance on the steep climbs and increasing my strength and resolve to handle the rugged terrain. This past weekend I’ve pushed myself to traveling further and faster than I normally hike. I’ve also forgone my normal shoes and gone either bare foot or with my favored Vibram FiveFingers. They are my go to shoes, the ones I wear as much and as often as I can. They have replaced my running shoes and have improved my running ever since. But, I must admit I’m beginning to think that the minimalist shoes just aren’t enough for the sort of hiking I do.
I am not sure if I’m odd or if my way of hiking is outside the norm but, I like to hike to a pretty quick tempo. I don’t just meander through the woods and stop to smell the roses. I use my peripheral vision and don’t really focus on any one thing when I hike…I sort of scan everything in front of me as I hike. Stopping only when I pick up something the piques my interest. I also, hike at a fairly fast pace of 4 m/hr. I do this for cardio mainly. I am really in a mindset to get in shape and pushing the limits of my body…so hiking at a fast pace seemed logical. Call me weird, ok. Anyway, I hiked over 25 miles in the course of two days. Not as much as I’d have liked but, time was limited. My honest opinion was some seriously sore feet during my hikes. I’m not going to down play anything just because I like Vibrams but, damn was I cursing myself for not brining other shoes. The terrain was so uneven and so rocky that the Vibrams just dulled the pain my feet felt with each step. Though I didn’t stop to rest at any point along the way I really don’t think I’ll wear them for anything more extreme than a trail run on a non-mountainous area. The terrain in the mountains was just too much for the 3.5mm Vibram TC-1 performance rubber soles to handle.
Vibram does make a model called the KSO Treks which have 4mm EVA midsole and TC-1 rubber. I’m not sure that .5mm is going to help my cause. I don’t know anyone else who has used the Vibram’s in mountainous conditions to compare experiences and most of the hikers I ran into had comments ranging from me being a little out there to being completely nuts. I’m sure if they could see me cringing while hiking down a trail with golf ball sized rocks they’d think I was a masochist.
Even though it is extremely painful in the Vibrams I am still apprehensive to wear my normal hiking shoes. I just don’t enjoy the hindrance of movement I get with the New Balance 801’s I have worn in the past. I also am extremely susceptible to blisters in them. Doubling my socks might help but, I really don’t like blisters. I ended up baling hay in my bare feet this year because of blisters. Though not bad, bare feet just limited my ability to bale hay and walk through the field quickly.
I’ll have to decide quickly what I’m going to wear. I plan on hitting the trail again tomorrow and want to go all out in the mountains to work on my leg strength.
My overall opinion of the short 25 miles I’ve hiked on the Appalachian Trail…well I’ll post that tomorrow. Till then, stay healthy.
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