Broken Glass Dilema

During my last hike on the Franconia Ridge I decided that It would be prudent to slip on my vibrams. Why?

There was broken glass on the trail.

To me it seemed like a good idea to protect my feet from this broken glass until a fellow youtuber sent me the video above.

It makes more sense to me now that we should be able to handle broken glass on the bottom of our feet. I do feel like we should, as barefoot people, allow our feet time to adjust and become calloused before attempting to surmount glass littered terrain however.

Just something to work towards I suppose. It would make a great party trick!!!

Mt. Chocorua...BAREFOOT

So the barefoot hike on Mt Chocorua was an overall success. I did sustain a couple of small cuts on my feet but overall I was very surprised at how my feet handled the excursion

The day was perfect. Not too hot and not a single cloud in the sky.

It was interesting to see ice on the hike above a certain altitude and to walk on such cold ground with confidence was refreshing. Usually the concern with ice is slipping and taking a gnarly fall but without shoes on this really isn't a concern. The sensation of walking on up a 3 thousand plus foot mountain without shoes is a great one!

I will certainly have to develop my feet more though if i expect to be hiking barefoot regularly. The last 3 miles of the hike were very uncomfortable. It was as if my feet were becoming hypersensitive to the ground and terrain that would not usually cause discomfort began to.

For a couple of days after the hike my feet were quite sore. I had the sensation of pins and needles in my feet and a couple of bruised areas. Still this is no big deal considering what I put them through. It goes to show exactly how much our feet can handle!

Ill upload some more photos from the hike soon!

Barefoot Adaptation

After taking on an eight mile hike up Mt Chocorua a couple of days ago, I realized that while your feet can take a lot of punishment from the ground, they need prolonged experience in the outdoors to really be able to handle everything that the earth can offer. My feet are sore as hell and slightly bruised but thats part of the adventure of being barefoot. Look at your feet now. They are narrow and soft. Years of forced shoe wearing made your feet that way and taking the into the great outdoors without shoes will most certainly provide a less than comfortable experience. Over a relatively short time, however, this can and will change. The skin on the bottom of your feet is especially able to harden as a result of abrasive exposure. Callousses will quickly develop and help to reduce barefoot discomfort. That rough stone and sharp gravel will be a piece of cake after a couple of months. Muscles connected to the complex arrangement of bones that make up your feet also need to adapt. Shoes allow our feet to atrophy to the point of being sore being without them. Getting outside and slowly building muscle back up in the feet is crucial. Ankle and calf muscle also needs time to adjust. As a relatively new barefoot enthusiast I can vouch for the fact that you can't have trail ready feet after a week. Being barefoot is worth the work to feel so connected to the world around you.