The Unoffical Official Hiking Thread

Had a nice hike with the family in Bryce Canyon National Park this weekend. Normally this time of year the trails would be under snow, but it has been a dry fall. It wasn't long before my girls started complaining about their toes hitting the fronts of their shoes. They took them off, so for a while, there were three barefoot hikers on the trails. The looks, comments, and photos were numerous. I'm going back this weekend to do a section of the Under the Rim trail. http://www.utah.com/hike/under-the-rim-*-trail

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I think Ahcuah has a picture of this sign in his blog. There wasn't a ranger around to explain proper foot wear.

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Kind of hard to get action photos hiking. Most look like you are stopped admiring the scenery. Which I was, Bryce is a beautiful place. A good summer option because of the high elevation.
 
Spent a lot of time at Lake Superior Provincial Park scrambling across the rocky shoreline last summer. Bare feet excel at this, though I don't have any good action shots.

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Here's a view from a cliff overlooking the lake. We later hiked down to the shore and I swam to those tiny, rocky islands just off the shore.

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In the latter of the trip we went to North Manitou Island in Lake Michigan. Here's the view from our camp. The lake doesn't look far away, but it was a very steep climb.

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Beautiful shots, Duelle. Must be nice to be able to hike in such nice places.

Rick, I think that sign means they don't want us hiking around in stilettos. I mean who would even think of trying it barefoot? Hee.
 
Hiking (and/or trail running) without shoes is such fun--to be able to feel the dust, mud, rocks, twigs, leaves, etc. makes for a more complete "nature connection," I think. While my goal is always to run, my patella-slipitis pain sometimes forces me into a walk. I call it "hiking" and keep smiling. (and writing about it . . . for way too many pictures of my bare feet on every kind of trail, see my blog at www.theagavin.com).

Happy Trails!

(PS I've even backpacked barefoot a couple of times--amazing to "lose the boots" and just enjoy the trails!)
 
A few weeks ago I went on a three-day overnight hike around the Northern section of the Wilson's Promontory National Park. The original plan was to hike in old sneakers, but they left my feet a little bit sore after the first day. I decided to try the second day in my fivefingers (KSO) that I had thrown into the pack for giggles. It was actually great having the minimal soles, even when bashing through dense scrub or walking on rocks and exposed roots. It's hard to explain, but I did feel very comfortable and secure on the ground, much more so than I ever did when I used to walk in big heavy boots. Unfortunately the notoriously bad inner seams of the KSOs left me with a number of red welts on both feet, so I applied duct tape (it was all I had) liberally and soldiered on for the day. I didn't have enough band aids to last another day, so I switched back to the sneakers for the last day and picked up some enormous blisters that are still healing three weeks later. Injinji socks on order for the next trip, methinks. I'm definitely a minimalist hiking convert though.

As for 'The Prom', my photos don't quite do it justice, but it is easily the most beautiful place in my part of the world.

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and the obvious question - why not barefoot? Well, the Australian bush isn't well suited to that, particularly where I was because the track wasn't always well-defined and it was essentially scrub bashing for some of the way, and some of that stuff was super-prickly. In my defence, I submit exhibit A - my shins after the trip. Completely shredded.

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Oh, and there's also exhibit B - one of four snakes we spotted during the walk. Wilson's Prom is well known for snakes - I've been there quite a few times and I've always spotted at least one.

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This was the little one, I wasn't standing still for long enough to photograph the big one I almost stood on. :)

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7449042@N03/sets/72157632286077442/with/8287848434/ if anybody wants to see them.
 
What kind of snake was that? I love snakes. I think they have some of the most beautiful faces. I'm not afraid of snakes, but I always like to know what kind of snake I am dealing with. I have always held them when given a chance, as long as they are not venomous.
 
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That looks fantastic. Well except for the shins! If it was that brushy I'd be wearing some light weight hiking pants!
Its neat to see the different wildlife that we don't have here too!

The original plan was to buy some gaiters to cover from the feet to the knees, but I was too disorganised. I hate walking in long pants though (likewise for running in tights) because I get too hot and it just feels 'wrong'. :). I really need to get up to speed with modern materials though - I guess there should be something around that is light and breathable and has good abrasion resistance.

I know what you mean about the wildlife - we went to Canada a few years ago and a Canadian lady we were speaking to seemed mystified by how keen we were to see bears. :)

What kind of snake was that? I love snakes. I think they have some of the most beautiful faces. I'm not afraid of snakes, but I always like to know what kind of snake I am dealing with. I have always held them when given a chance, as long as they are not venomous.

They are quite beautiful, but they do give me a fright when I see them in the wild. As far as I can tell (I'm certainly no Steve Irwin and I don't waste time looking at them while I'm running the other way!) three of them were Eastern Brown snakes which are quite venomous, but tend to get out of your way if you're making noise. The longest one was well over a metre long, a fairly big one. The fourth one, which is the one in the photo, is a bit of a mystery to me. It was quite small, probably only a foot and a half long, and almost grey in colour. I'm assuming it was a juvenile brown snake, but I could be way off the mark.
 
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It looks like an Eastern Brown Snake too. That's why I asked. They are the second most venomous snake in the world, and thank God, we don't have that particular snake in the US. I only learned about them when my cat brought in a similar looking snake, a small one. Ours turned out to be non-venomous. Whew!
 
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Had a nice hike with the family in Bryce Canyon National Park this weekend. Normally this time of year the trails would be under snow, but it has been a dry fall. It wasn't long before my girls started complaining about their toes hitting the fronts of their shoes. They took them off, so for a while, there were three barefoot hikers on the trails. The looks, comments, and photos were numerous. I'm going back this weekend to do a section of the Under the Rim trail. http://www.utah.com/hike/under-the-rim-*-trail

054-2.jpg


I think Ahcuah has a picture of this sign in his blog. There wasn't a ranger around to explain proper foot wear.

061.jpg


Kind of hard to get action photos hiking. Most look like you are stopped admiring the scenery. Which I was, Bryce is a beautiful place. A good summer option because of the high elevation.

Awesome! I love the sign . . . "proper" is so ambiguous :)
 
That looks like it was an awesome hike! As a High School English Teacher, I appreciate the linguistic process behind your name (at first glance it looks Hawaiian). I'll be checking your blog out more often now that I know about it. Thanks for the link!