We got soul... I mean soles.

H:
Hiking, for a large number of us, means that we will spend many miles on the soles of our feet moving down an established path.  Yes, hiking means a lot more than that but for this installment we're just talking feet.

What one keeps between their soles and the trail turns out to be a very personal subject.  I have read books that push hard for BOOTS, yes boots in capital letters because nothing else is good enough for your feet.  Some suggest wearing light-weight hiking boots, because you're not going to be bushwhacking so why weigh down your feet but you need stability around your ankles.  We have a friend that hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in tennis shoes, he went through 3 pairs.  Still others walk trails barefoot, but this does limit you to warmer weather unless you are a very tough cookie!

We've debated for some time as to what shoes to wear.  We have hiked a good bit on trails in tennis shoes without trouble but we've been reading quite a bit about "trail runners".  Not having experienced "trail runners" we finally tired of reading online about shoes and worked our way to REI today.

Dave has big feet, size 12 to 13.  I have wide feet mainly because my littlest toes stick out far too much.  I've often wondered the purpose of those toes as they don't even touch the ground.  In the end I just resort to men's tennis shoes because they're typically wider and easier to find a fit.  But both of us have trouble finding tennis shoes that really fit so when we do finally find something we just know they're the right ones.

We worked out for a couple hours at the Y today then went off to sample shoes hoping our feet would be a bit more swollen than normal.  The first thing we tried on at REI was a pair of trail runners.  The pair we tried had a firm, and not very flexible sole.  They were incredible light weight and we climbed around on the rock they have in the shoe section without trouble.  The laces were adjusted with a sliding clip and were something that seemed like high density dental floss.  All the trail runners seemed pretty similar in style with varying degrees of sole stiffness.

Josh, our patient helper, talked with us for some time about the cons of trail runners and eventually showed us a pair of Keen Marshall low-cut boot/shoe hybrid.  I didn't have high hopes, but I never do when trying on shoes, and while these were "lower case" boots and not the big waffle stompers, they were still boots.  We'd come to see trail runners.  Still, we tried them on.

When I slid my foot into that shoe a mouse ran by, turned into a horse, and promptly rode off with a carriage that looked suspiciously like a pumpkin.  Josh said a few times that Keen shoes are known for running wider in the toe box and he was right.  I didn't even have to cut off that little toe like the wicked step-sister.  My toes never felt so free in a pair of shoes.  I opted to try a half size shorter as the shoes were so wide but when I put on my half knitted wool sock (good thing I'd turned the heel yesterday, more on hand knit socks another day!) I decided on my standard size.  The only addition will need to be a bit more arch support.

I looked over the plethora of shoes on the wall, picked up a few different ones, then looked at my feet.  When you have a shoe that fits that good, why keep looking... we each bought a pair.

My handsome prince picked one size larger than normal and was very satisfied.  With the help of another great employee, Stephanie, Dave was also able to pick a pair of minimalist shoes off the clearance rack.  These will be for wearing in the evening when we're "in camp."  They didn't have any that fit me comfortably so I will just keep checking back, we have oodles of time right?

Oh, about 120 days.