Date: 2012-02-19
To: Day 4: Final Shakedown Hike in September 2011
Miles today: 0.0

Hiking in new foot gear is not advisable. And since I made the decision to go with durability (even if it meant a little extra weight) on the A.T., I bought myself a new pair of boots last spring. I knew I had some work to do breaking them in! So, I was the only person in northeast Mississippi last summer mowing grass and speed-walking mile after mile around our neighborhood in hiking boots. By the time we left for our Shakedown Hike (SDH) in late September 2011, while the boots weren¢t entirely broken in, they did have some wear on the treads. But, back to that truism that your front yard, or anywhere else in your neighborhood, is nothing like the AT, and it cannot prepare you for the trail:By the second day of our SDH, the back of my left heel looked like raw meat. With all my sweat, Band-Aids - even covered with duct tape - weren¢t staying on. Lacing up my boots as tightly as possible only seemed to cut off the circulation to my feet. And three pairs of socks didn¢t seem to help much either. Every time I rolled through from heel to toe, my heel was riding up in the boot & rubbing. AND the water bars only added insult to the agony!I was in low cotton when the first leg of our SDH ended and we came out at Winding Stair Gap. I thought at the very least I needed a pharmacy, or more likely a bullet to put me out of my misery. I had a strong feeling we might have to cut the SDH short since my heel was looking & feeling so bad. On the ride into Franklin we asked Kathy Miller, our shuttle driver, if there was an outfitter in town who might be able to help. She told us about the ¢new kids on the block¢ or the owners of Outdoor 76 on Main Street. She said the place had been open for less than a year, but everybody (hikers she shuttled back & forth) was talking about them and saying great things.The next morning, clad in my safety green colored sockless Crocs, we made the short walk up the hill from our room at the nearby Franklin Hotel to Outdoor 76. Cory McCall and Rob Gasbarro, are the owners of Outdoor 76 (located at 76 Main Street, hence the name). We spent six hours in their store talking about everything from foot gear, to water filters, to trekking poles to backpacks. A steam of other customers came and went over the course of the afternoon, but they kept coming back to us with great patience until all my problems were solved. I learned A LOT about foot gear in general and about my feet in particular. Cory was super patient measuring my feet (like all his customers, I have a card on file in the store now!) and answered each & every question. Rob diagnosed my slight instep was the major malfunction. My foot wasn¢t staying ¢down¢ in my boot. He fitted me with a new pair of Salomon trail runners. Long story short¢¦ while my blisters didn¢t go away, they were manageable in the new shoes (compared to those killer boots) and I was able to finish our SDH (with additional help from heavy duty Band-Aids, tape, bed sore pads and rubbing alcohol [great for toughening the feet]). We were so impressed with Cory¢s and Rob¢s knowledge and service that we ended up also buying the final piece of gear, which we had intended putting off purchasing until the very end: new backpacks. We gladly traded in our 80 liter, tried & true (but very heavy!), decade old Gregory Palisade¢s (@ 6 pounds each) for a pair of properly measured & fitted to our short torsos 40 liter Granite Gear Escape A.C.¢s (@ 2 pounds, 13 ounces). We used the new backpacks for the rest of our SDH, after which we returned to Franklin to retrieve everything we left behind. (The boys had offered to store our now surplus stuff for us at their place.) Besides being a wealth of knowledge, Outdoor 76 knows the meaning of Legendary Service! We look forward to seeing them again this April, hopefully for a shorter, problem-free visit, and a chance for us to meet their new additions: each have brand, new baby boys: Sawyer & Logan! However, if we do develop some serious end-of-hike issue, and can just make it to Franklin, I have faith Outdoor 76 will fix it and get us back on the trail¢¦-X