Updates to Footwear

[Gambit McCrae]

I have been a die hard Altra fan ever since I changed out of the foot wrenching Solomon Supercross's.. Some of you probably recall my short stint of hiking in Crocs(Which was a great experience btw, but not suitable for consistency long term).

The Altra Lone Peaks....I can count/ remember wearing out 6 pairs right off the top of my head

Then came the Altra Olympus...1 pair. I saw the Olympus as a cushier version of the LP's

Then I went to the CDT and found that my Altra Olympus were at the bottom end of cushioning compared to what the majority of other hikers were wearing, who were sporting a sole thickness closer to 3" vs my 1.5".
My personal experience was that my feet were bottoming out in the Altra Olympus's resulting in foot ulcers which was a driving factor in having to pull the plug after a painful 85 miles.

Once home I did rapid research and found that the Hoka Stinson 6's met the max cushion criteria and I snagged a pair on eBay for $60ish bucks, great deal BTW.
I have not tested them on a hike yet but I feel that the lack of a wide size in these shoes may be their downfall. I feel the slightest inward stress on the pinky toes.

So the hunt for a wide, max cushion shoe is still on my radar and this is what I have found

Altra VIA Olympus: Different than the standard Altra Olympus due to the extra cushion in this version.
Hoka Bondi 8: Seem to be the same or similar to the Hoka Stinson 6's but available in wide and X-wide.



On to the socks. I have paired my Altra series shoes with Smartwool PhD socks for many years and for many years I went blister free.

I basically took the entire 2022 year off from backpacking. When I resumed my hiking at the end of 22 and so far this year, I am experiencing what I would consider 2 foot problems/ issues.

Issue 1 - The ulcers forming from the impact on hard surfaces. These ulcers(the term foot ulcer was new to me) are a separation of the foot pads from my feet. It is occurring on both feet, and symmetrically across both feet in the are of pad on my foot behind the big toe, and ball of my foot. Highlighted in red below


Issue 2 - Contact/ friction blisters in between the toes. Highlighted in blue below

Disclaimer - This is a stock photo of feet, not my feet lol

Feet.PNG

I never thought I would but I am venturing away from Smartwool to test out toe socks.
I am trying out the Injini toe socks for starts. They are wool and that's about all I know about them.

Lastly conditioning feet: I know only hiking 1 - 30 mile trip a month is not going to condition my feet out of these issues. However I have started applying iso alcohol to my feet once a day, I tried this technique in the past with at the least, not negative results...I would like to think it helped in toughening the feet.

[JPritch]

What about the CDT requires so much extra cushioning, and adjustment of what worked on the AT? I saw mentioned of hard surfaces...can you elaborate?

[Gambit McCrae]

What about the CDT requires so much extra cushioning, and adjustment of what worked on the AT? I saw mentioned of hard surfaces...can you elaborate?

The terrain from Crazy Cook, NM north to Lordsburg, NM(My only personal experience so far) is basically a mixture of rock and churt like surfaces vs the AT being mainly dirt surface. My closest experience and foot results were my first trips to PA prior to wearing Altras when I earned myself similar foot ulcers. Once I changed over to the Altras, they were enough of a cushion increase to alive the foot ulcers aquired on that level of hard surface, however the CDT hard surface % is basically 100% of the hike.

[High-Milage Hiker]

Good Feet Store GET (Gait Enhancement Technology) custom inserts. Game changers.