Leaving the Boots Behind

One of the toughest decisions for me was whether to take my traditional hiking boots or go with much lighter trail runners. After much debate I decided to go with trail runners over my Gortex hiking boots. I will start with an old pair of New Balance trail runners I've had for a while and transition to new pairs along the way when my shoes wear out. I just recently bought a pair of Montrail Sabinos that hope I can hold off on needing until I get to Kennedy Meadows but we will see. Anyways thought I would take some time to explain my logic in switching to lighter shoes.

Easiest Way to Drop a Pound

Seeing how my last post was all about the lightweight gear I think the point is pretty clear I'm not looking to carry any excess baggage. Considering that fact that my giant Gortex hiking boots weigh in at just over 3 lbs and my trail runners weigh in under 1 lb that is a savings of 1 lb per step. Now considering that the trail is 2,663.5 miles to Manning Park and each step I take is about a yard (long legs certainly help), that adds up to roughly 4.68 million steps! This was one of the facts that convinced me there is a pretty strong argument for switching to lighter shoes.

My Biggest Fear: Sprained Ankles

This was from an IM volleyball game gone bad just last year

While many of my family and friends may be worried about me getting eaten by a bear, falling off a cliff, dying of thirst, getting stabbed by a vagrant or being captured by a sea eagle, my biggest worry is getting a sprained ankle. My ankles and I have had a very shaky relationship ever since I started playing basketball. I started using ankle braces which only seemed to make them weaker. Over the years I have sprained my ankle many times and am constantly trying to find new ways to strengthen them but to no avail. Part of my was worried (and is still a little concerned) that I would need some sort of surgery to fix my weak ankles but it hasn't come to that. One thing was clear I was not sure whether or not I would be comfortable without some high ankle support from a heavy-duty hiking boot. Then I discovered trekking poles.

Trekking Poles

For those who find jogging a bit too challenging

Even as a kid I never really understood the advantage of a walking stick. Sure you would pick out the coolest stick you could find in the forest but after a while I'd get bored and tired of carrying it and just throw it back in the woods. I used to always think trekking poles were for old people or people who want to make walking look like exercising. It certainly didn't make any sense to me why experienced hikers who were in shape needed to use poles to make their way up through the backcountry. Well call me an old man or a profession walker, but I have grown to be a huge advocate of trekking poles. Here are some of my reasons:

1. They give you an extra set of legs by having two extra points of contact with the ground (that way tall gangly folk like me don't have to worry as much about loosing our balance)
2. When you do trip up and take a bad step you can catch yourself with your poles and keep yourself from putting all of your weight on your now twisted ankle.
3. You can use your arms to help power your way up mountains.
4. When you are going downhill the poles can help take some of the pressure off your knees and other joints.
5. They can provide extra stability when crossing rivers or streams.
6. They can double up as tent poles and allow you to set up a tarp without any trees nearby.

Yes I realize many of these points make me seem like an old man but as I said before I do not trust my ankle to get me through this trip unassisted so its great to have a safety net. I have already noticed on some of my trips this past summer how my trekking poles had prevented me from getting a minor sprain on some of the bad step I took. Also when you will be taking 4.68 million steps the odds that one of them will not end so well is pretty high so better to have the trekking poles there to keep me upright.

However I also realize that I don't want to turn my hiking poles into the same crutch as my ankle braces became. I have started to regularly practice certain ankle strengthening techniques I picked up from a yoga class. They have actually been working quite well (or at least have a great placebo effect) and my balance is improving. Most involve either standing up on you tip toes and maintaining you balance in different poses and/or balancing on one leg. I'm hoping if I keep this up ankle sprains will be a thing of the past for me.

Wet Shoes

Finally one of the last reasons that helped me finalize my decision to ditch my boots was what happens when they get wet. Now my Gortex boots are very good at keeping water out. I can walk through shallow streams in them and as long as the water doesn't get over my ankles my feet will stay nice and dry. However when that all day rainstorm hits and everything on be gets soaked I will be waiting weeks for the insides of those boots to ever dry out. A better approach is to simply accept the fact that you feet will likely get wet along the way and got with a pair of shoes that actually can dry out; like trail runners.

Now I actually just finished one of the muddiest hikes I have ever been on out on the Juan de Fuca Trail here on Vancouver Island and let me tell you my trail runners were soaked and didn't dry out too much on this long weekend hike. However I've been in the situation with wet Gortex boots and I don't want to be trudging through weeks of rain in Washington or Oregon with soaked boots. Regardless I'm sure there will be plenty of mornings where I am simply dreading getting out of my warm sleeping bag to put on my cold wet shoes but that's all part of the trip.