[pct-l] snakes and shoes.

[david_tibor at yahoo.com (David Tibor)]

hi there.

my comments on snakes and shoes...

SNAKES
i only saw two or three in southern california, and
though startling, they really don't want anything to
do with you. they either cruise away as you come up to
them, or they rattle at you and you stop and let them
slowly cruise off. occasionally they need a little
very gentle assistance with a long stick to move off.
i saw WAY more in lower elevations of northern
california - probably 12-15 total. i guess i always
paid a bit more attention when i was in rocky, brushy
areas. i'll admit i never got used to being rattled at
- it always spooked me. but realize that there is
almost no chance of being bitten. i heard somewhere
that something like 70% of bites are on the hand and
70% of bites are to men and 70% involve alcohol, so if
you're a sober woman not trying to show off by picking
one up, you'll be fine! 

SHOES
i wore my usual size, and my feet didn't noticeably
swell, even in socal. i wore just one thin liner sock.
i apparently am quite lucky, and only got two blisters
in the entire PCT - basically where i had big
callouses from playing soccer (i should've pumiced
them down). i rinsed my feet off where i could, took
my shoes off at breaks fairly often, washed my socks
out fairly often, and i had no real problems at all. i
wear shoes as little as possible in general, so maybe
i have tougher feet. though i had almost no problems,
many people had huge problems - so take your foot care
very seriously, especially if you are prone to
blisters.

some merell helium ventilators in socal which SUCKED.
they were falling apart after 150 miles, and i mean
FALLING APART. after that it was three pairs of new
balance 806s, which were great, although the laces had
a tendency to break before the shoes did (helps to
carry one or two extra laces grabbed from shoes in
hiker boxes) and the front bumper would always start
to pull away after a while.

peace.

dave t. (2004)


		
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