[pct-l] Seeking Advice on PCT footwear

[reynolds@iLAN.com (Reynolds, WT)]

I have a different approach to this footwear thing.

DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING til I-10 [Calabazon]

Almost anyone who is contemplating a thruhike will have already taken a
multi-day hike. Whatever shoes, pack, mileage and hiking style that they
used they should start out with. Only after a couple hundred miles should
they make changes.

It is well documented that a huge percentage of hikers destroy their feet
before the reach I-10. This is probably due to either new footwear or
excessive mileage. Yet that same hiker probably has successfully walked for
one to two weeks, over far more difficult terrain, carrying a much heavier
pack and not wiped out their feet -- on a previous hike. I propose that you
simply use those shoes, that pack, and walk that mileage that you have
already successfully done.

By I-10 you should be ready to lighten your pack and lenghthen your day.
And, at this point you will know far more about how your body is reacting to
the rigors of a thruhike. So simply ship your wazzoo new pack and ultralight
shoes to Calabazon and decide then what will probably work.

Yes, it is true, it is inconvient to limit your mileage in Section A and B.
You will wind up camping in dry, ugly locations and carrying far more water
than the rabbit thruhikers you start out with. Yet the statistics are that
the turtle will pass the rabbit who is holed up in Camp Anza or I-10 letting
their feet mend.