It's kind of exciting that The Man is going to be hiking the first 700 miles of the PCT. The day to drive him to the border is fast approaching.
It's going to be very lonely here at home with the birds all driving me nuts because they misbehave unless he is home. But I'll be looking forward to the weekends so I can drive down to the trail and try to meet him or maybe to drive to other spots on the trail and hand out lemonade or maybe even do an overnighter here and there.
The plan is to drive him to Lake Morena after work one day next week. Then the following morning, drive him to the border and bring the car back to Lake Morena. Then I'll dayhike down the trail until I meet him and then we'll walk back to Lake Morena together. Then we'll spend the night at Lake Morena together.
In the morning I'll do it again, this time driving to Mt. Laguna and then hiking south on the trail until I meet him and walk back to Lake Morena.
He's hoping he can time his hike so that he reaches Warner Springs on a weekend. Then I can drive down and meet him and soak in the hot spring with him. Somehow I think that's probably not going to work out, but we'll see.
He wants me to come visit if possible, but it's probable that he'll never be anywhere I can get to on a weekend. But if he is, then I'll make an effort.
I remember that I worried about doing my hike alone and wished he could come visit me, but after a while, I liked it that I was doing it all by myself. I think he'll enjoy that, too.
It's fun looking forward to being a trail angel of some sort. I at least want to try and wait by some road somewhere with cold drinks and see him come by with his new hiker trash friends and his new hiker trash persona. It would be fun. I hope it works out I can do that at least one time.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Backpacking in Feelmax shoes
I took my new Feelmax shoes backpacking. The Man and I did a 14 mile each way trip on the Sespe Creek. The trail used to be a road long ago, so it is gently graded. There were a lot of creek crossing that were deep so we had to take off our shoes to go across.
I wore the Feelmaxes for about 4 miles on Saturday and maybe 3 miles on Sunday. I put the hard plastic part of a pair of Superfeet insoles under the thin flimsy insole the Feelmax shoes come with. I was worried I might hurt myself on rocks on the trail. I think I worried too much about that. I took the Superfeet plastic out at one point and while I could feel the difference, there wasn't any pain.
They feel like being barefoot without the fear of hurting your feet on little rocks. They kind of smooth the rocks out. You can still feel everything underfoot, except for those little rocks that stick to your feet and hurt the most. Without the fear of pain, you are free to experience walking with your feet as god made them.
I really didn't want to get them dirty, which is kind of silly if you are going backpacking, but I took care to keep them clean. We took a side trail to a hot spring and I tried not to step in any mud or get them wet. The hot spring was wonderful. What a luxury to sit in a hot pool of water looking at snow on the Topatopa bluffs above!
After a soak in the pool, I continued to wear them as we hiked cross country to avoid two creek crossings. The feeling of walking through an old pasture in them was extraordinary. I could feel the softness of the dirt. As we continued toward rejoining the trail, we crossed some rocky section of an old trail and then bushwhacked through a flat area with small shrubs. About this time I started to feel like my feet were getting tired and I put my regular shoes back on.
When we finally found our campsite, I used them as camp shoes. They feel nice as camp shoes.
On the way home, I waited until there was a long stretch without creek crossings and tried wearing them again. Now I could feel how sore I was. There are all kinds of muscles in your feet and legs that don't get used when you wear regular shoes. All kinds of things were sore from the thighs down. It wasn't the sore I get from wearing motion control shoes, the absolute pain and agony of my feet being injured. It was the sore of working new muscles. It was also the soreness of bad habits formed from wearing chunky shoes. All that crashing on the heels walking fast is really hard on the knees and you notice it in these shoes.
My hope is that my feet and legs will get stronger. I think it might actually work.
I wore the Feelmaxes for about 4 miles on Saturday and maybe 3 miles on Sunday. I put the hard plastic part of a pair of Superfeet insoles under the thin flimsy insole the Feelmax shoes come with. I was worried I might hurt myself on rocks on the trail. I think I worried too much about that. I took the Superfeet plastic out at one point and while I could feel the difference, there wasn't any pain.
They feel like being barefoot without the fear of hurting your feet on little rocks. They kind of smooth the rocks out. You can still feel everything underfoot, except for those little rocks that stick to your feet and hurt the most. Without the fear of pain, you are free to experience walking with your feet as god made them.
I really didn't want to get them dirty, which is kind of silly if you are going backpacking, but I took care to keep them clean. We took a side trail to a hot spring and I tried not to step in any mud or get them wet. The hot spring was wonderful. What a luxury to sit in a hot pool of water looking at snow on the Topatopa bluffs above!
After a soak in the pool, I continued to wear them as we hiked cross country to avoid two creek crossings. The feeling of walking through an old pasture in them was extraordinary. I could feel the softness of the dirt. As we continued toward rejoining the trail, we crossed some rocky section of an old trail and then bushwhacked through a flat area with small shrubs. About this time I started to feel like my feet were getting tired and I put my regular shoes back on.
When we finally found our campsite, I used them as camp shoes. They feel nice as camp shoes.
On the way home, I waited until there was a long stretch without creek crossings and tried wearing them again. Now I could feel how sore I was. There are all kinds of muscles in your feet and legs that don't get used when you wear regular shoes. All kinds of things were sore from the thighs down. It wasn't the sore I get from wearing motion control shoes, the absolute pain and agony of my feet being injured. It was the sore of working new muscles. It was also the soreness of bad habits formed from wearing chunky shoes. All that crashing on the heels walking fast is really hard on the knees and you notice it in these shoes.
My hope is that my feet and legs will get stronger. I think it might actually work.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Feelmax shoes
I bought some Feelmax Osma shoes. They are made in Finland and are specifically designed for people who want to have as minimal a shoe as possible. I bought them from Extreme Outfitters.
I wasn't really sure what to expect. They are much like moccasins that look sort of like running shoes. They don't look quite like running shoes because most running shoes look really disco space-age plastic with big rubber heels, but they come close. I got the green ones. They match everything I wear because I always wear green and orange and earthy colors. They have a thin, rubber-like sole that wraps up around the edges, so they aren't exactly like moccasins. But the sole is very thin and quite flexible without a heel rise or arch support so your feet are left to their own abilities.
The Osmas are supposed to be for running. I will try running in them soon, but so far all I have done is wear them around the house and to Trader Joes on my scooter. In order to wear them on my scooter, I put the hard plastic parts of superfeet insoles into the shoes. It's the only way I could put my scooter up on the center stand wearing these shoes. Putting it up on the center stand requires standing on the kick-stand while I push the scooter back. This takes a bit of force.
Still, even with the hard plastic insoles, it felt much like being barefoot. A lot more like being barefoot than I expected. I often walk part of the way home from work barefoot, but other than that, I don't go anywhere barefoot. This was my first time in a public environment like shopping with such minimal shoes. The soles are only a few millimeters thick. There is no built-up heel. I could tell that my ankles and feet are not used to being so free. Not used to being held up by stiff shoes. I kept thinking as I walked the aisles of Trader Joes, "Let the healing begin!"
What healing? Well, 3000 miles of walking has impacted my feet quite a bit. Although doctors might tell me to put all kinds of orthotics in my shoes and tell me to get all kinds of supportive shoes, I'm pretty sure the opposite is a better course of action. Ray Jardine said that if you want to avoid ankle injuries while backpacking, forget the big boots and instead wear low-cut running shoes to build strong ankles. I'm going to move one step forward from Ray Jardine's advice. I want to have strong feet and ankles so I am going to strengthen them in barefoot shoes.
I wasn't really sure what to expect. They are much like moccasins that look sort of like running shoes. They don't look quite like running shoes because most running shoes look really disco space-age plastic with big rubber heels, but they come close. I got the green ones. They match everything I wear because I always wear green and orange and earthy colors. They have a thin, rubber-like sole that wraps up around the edges, so they aren't exactly like moccasins. But the sole is very thin and quite flexible without a heel rise or arch support so your feet are left to their own abilities.
The Osmas are supposed to be for running. I will try running in them soon, but so far all I have done is wear them around the house and to Trader Joes on my scooter. In order to wear them on my scooter, I put the hard plastic parts of superfeet insoles into the shoes. It's the only way I could put my scooter up on the center stand wearing these shoes. Putting it up on the center stand requires standing on the kick-stand while I push the scooter back. This takes a bit of force.
Still, even with the hard plastic insoles, it felt much like being barefoot. A lot more like being barefoot than I expected. I often walk part of the way home from work barefoot, but other than that, I don't go anywhere barefoot. This was my first time in a public environment like shopping with such minimal shoes. The soles are only a few millimeters thick. There is no built-up heel. I could tell that my ankles and feet are not used to being so free. Not used to being held up by stiff shoes. I kept thinking as I walked the aisles of Trader Joes, "Let the healing begin!"
What healing? Well, 3000 miles of walking has impacted my feet quite a bit. Although doctors might tell me to put all kinds of orthotics in my shoes and tell me to get all kinds of supportive shoes, I'm pretty sure the opposite is a better course of action. Ray Jardine said that if you want to avoid ankle injuries while backpacking, forget the big boots and instead wear low-cut running shoes to build strong ankles. I'm going to move one step forward from Ray Jardine's advice. I want to have strong feet and ankles so I am going to strengthen them in barefoot shoes.
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