BIGEarl
Well-known member
Early this year I received the recommendation from my Doctor to hike. It’s a long story. In the course of my hiking I have learned a few things.
1. I really enjoy hiking.
2. After roughly ten miles my feet start to hurt, twelve to fourteen miles and they’re screaming at me. I’ve done a number of twenty-plus hikes and they were real endurance tests.
When I started to hike I purchased a new pair of light hiking boots. They were comfortable, light in weight, waterproof, and probably designed to do exactly what I intended for them when I made the purchase. My actual hiking became more than I had initially planned. After a little less than three months I had hiked all of the 4000 Footers (approximately 250 miles) and had a pair of worn out boots. Some seams were separating and the soles were pretty beat. The surprising part of the story is the dealer did not have an alternate product to recommend so he returned the boots to the manufacturer and gave me a full refund. This store has my business for life – but that’s another story.
In this introduction to hiking I tried a number of things to deal with the foot pain. I tried new boot inserts (Superfeet), tried different sock combinations, and various pain killers (unfortunately, NSAIDs are off-limits for me). I actually found the best combination in these initial boots were the Superfeet and three pairs of socks, (liner sock, medium-weight, and mountaineering-weight).
Now, I have a pair of Vasque Sundowner Summit GTX that fit better out of the box than the others did at any time, and I thought the first boots fit well and were very comfortable. They’re heavier and stiffer as well. After hiking twenty mountains with these boots I find the best combination is the Superfeet plus two pair of socks (liners and the Mountaineering-weight). There has been a tremendous improvement, but there’s still pain.
In reading past posts, I have the sense quite a few others are in the same boat with painful feet while hiking (you know who you are). Most likely, some of you have other techniques for dealing with foot pain that may be helpful.
If you could help me address my foot pain I would be eternally grateful.
1. I really enjoy hiking.
2. After roughly ten miles my feet start to hurt, twelve to fourteen miles and they’re screaming at me. I’ve done a number of twenty-plus hikes and they were real endurance tests.
When I started to hike I purchased a new pair of light hiking boots. They were comfortable, light in weight, waterproof, and probably designed to do exactly what I intended for them when I made the purchase. My actual hiking became more than I had initially planned. After a little less than three months I had hiked all of the 4000 Footers (approximately 250 miles) and had a pair of worn out boots. Some seams were separating and the soles were pretty beat. The surprising part of the story is the dealer did not have an alternate product to recommend so he returned the boots to the manufacturer and gave me a full refund. This store has my business for life – but that’s another story.
In this introduction to hiking I tried a number of things to deal with the foot pain. I tried new boot inserts (Superfeet), tried different sock combinations, and various pain killers (unfortunately, NSAIDs are off-limits for me). I actually found the best combination in these initial boots were the Superfeet and three pairs of socks, (liner sock, medium-weight, and mountaineering-weight).
Now, I have a pair of Vasque Sundowner Summit GTX that fit better out of the box than the others did at any time, and I thought the first boots fit well and were very comfortable. They’re heavier and stiffer as well. After hiking twenty mountains with these boots I find the best combination is the Superfeet plus two pair of socks (liners and the Mountaineering-weight). There has been a tremendous improvement, but there’s still pain.
In reading past posts, I have the sense quite a few others are in the same boat with painful feet while hiking (you know who you are). Most likely, some of you have other techniques for dealing with foot pain that may be helpful.
If you could help me address my foot pain I would be eternally grateful.
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