Date: 2016-01-27
From: Florida 

To: Florida 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Gear and feet are two popular topics of conversation among backpackers and everyone has their own opinion. Okay, food is another favorite, but more on that later. My opinion is that everyone's feet are different and what works for one hiker will not necessarily work for another. For instance, Keen makes great hiking boots but they give me blisters and don't fit my feet right. I've tried to like them and have purchased many pairs only to lose toenails and aquire an assortment of blisters. Some hikers don't wear insoles and rarely have sore feet. Others have custom made orthotics and still have pain and discomfort. My feet are bony and thin with a high arch and finding comfortable shoes is never easy. My feet were always sore, and I mean sore in a very painful, throbbing sort of way. They were screaming at me the very first week and are still making unhappy sounds. The pain was relentless and annoying because even when my body and mind kept wanting to hike my feet kept telling me they needed to stop.  I expected my feet to hurt badly, but not this badly. Maybe I am just being a wimp about it but being in pain step after every step for months was tough. Tough as nails.I want and need to figure out what went wrong because my feet still hurt, and I am returning to the trail in less than three months. One of my first journal entries was about a terrible two year bout I had with plantar fasciitis many years ago that finally ended with my discovery of yoga. It had never returned until a couple months before I started this hike.  Go figure. The pain can be excruciating and is mostly felt in the heel. Sometimes you can barely place your foot on the ground without feeling like you're being tortured with daggers or stepping on nails.  My feet felt this way almost every day on the Appalachian Trail especially upon rising in the morning. I did not think it was PF because I also had pain in almost every contour of both feet. Upon returning home I am sure I have full blown PF now and probably had it on the trail as well. The pain was most intense in Pennsylvania and without exaggeration it took one to two hours every evening after stopping for the throbbing to subside enough to where it was bearable. The first thing I did whenever I stopped at a shelter was lay on my back and put my legs and feet up the shelter wall for relief. I could often be found on the side of the trail with my legs resting up a tree or spread out on my tyvec doing yoga.My flip flop hike started in Harper's Ferry which put me in Rockslyvania within the first 50 miles. It was not an easy transition from flat, smooth trails in Florida to jagged, pointy rocks being jammed into my feet everyday from every angle. The flip flop hike was the best choice for me for all the reasons I've written about, but if I had to do it over again I would start in Virginia south of the Shenandoahs to give my feet a chance to adapt to the terrain. Who knows, maybe it wouldn't have made a difference, but I think a more gradual transition on my feet would have had less repercussions. Once I flipped, or maybe it was flopped, south from Harper's Ferry my feet still hurt, but not nearly as much. To my amazement I could still walk at the end of the day and get my camp chores done without wincing in pain. The difference in terrain was like night and day to my feet from the split of my flip flop. The numbness or dead feeling in my toes and ball of my feet even went away. Prior to my hike I obsessed about my foot health and shoes and spent countless hours on my computer researching how to prevent foot ailments and the pros and cons of trail runners vs. ankle high more durable boots. I bought and hiked in several different boots before settling on Salomon trail runners and staying with my tried and true green super feet insoles. Three months before my hike I indulged my feet in reflexology treatments, acupuncture, epsom salt baths, daily massage with magnesium oil, yoga and even herbal supplements specifically designed to heal feet and ankles. I also endured the discomfort of wearing a large foot splint to bed every night. Even rolled my feet on golf balls and tennis balls and stretched daily. My feet felt really good before I started my hike and my PF had disappeared. I have had two relexology treatments since I've been back. The first one was so incredibly painful that the slightest touch brought tears to my eyes and was almost more than I could handle. I went to a new reflexologist who was closer to my house and didn't realize he couldn't speak English until I tried to explain to him why my feet were so sore. While my feet were being slowly tortured I consoled myself by saying I would definitely not come back. But, no pain no gain, and the next day I was thrilled at how much better my feet felt. I went back for more a week later, and it wasn't as bad. Progress. I admit I've been hiking since I got off the trail and I need to completely rest my feet for a full recovery. That is more difficult than one would think.   My activity level feels like it has come to a screeching halt, and I feel very much out of my element.Getting back to foot care on the trail, what worked remarkably well for me was my daily foot ceremony of saturating my feet with hand sanitizer and then dusting them with gold bond foot powder. Every morning and evening.  It prevented swamp feet and got rid of any nastiness that wanted to grow from wet feet from rain and sweat. During the hot summer months I also rotated socks every few hours and dried my wet socks in the sun if I could.  I had very few blisters and only had to use a bandaid and moleskin twice until I converted to nu skin which is the only thing I carried after using it once.  No lost toe nails which I attribute to wearing trail runners one and a half sizes larger than my regular size. Only one funky looking nail, and other than that my feet look like they did pre-hike. I've been told many times that I could be a foot model. I guess that is still a new career possibility, even though I would rather be a long distance hiker with tougher, less painful feet. My next plan of action is to see a podiatrist and consider a custom made orthotic. The reviews I have read on this are mixed. I'm not sure what else to do, but I am open to more ideas. Thanks all!