Middle Hawkins, 14 July 2001

To: schiker@yahoogroups.com
From: Karen Isaacson Leverich 
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2001 12:50:51 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [SCHIKER-So Cal Hiker] Foot Sore and Frustrated

Sign me foot sore and frustrated!  Brian and I showed up yesterday for
the hike to Mount Islip, Mount Hawkins, and Middle Hawkins.  This was
to have been led by Sandy Burnside and Maggie Wilson, but Sandy of
course couldn't come, so George Wysup led in her stead.  (He did
introduce himself as Sandy Burnside, but I think no one was fooled.
Except maybe Eve our dog, who's a bit on the credulous side at times.)

Why frustrated?  Because I didn't make it to Mount Islip.  Argggggh!
This wasn't George and Maggie's fault -- it was a beautiful day for a
hike, and everyone was having a great time.  We did do a bit of peak
swapping, changing Mount Hawkins for South Hawkins and Sadie Hawkins,
but I didn't mind.  Mount Hawkins we had already done a few weeks
back, on our way to/from Copter Ridge.  And the lookout at South Hawkins
really is a fun place to visit.

The problem was my darn shoes and/or socks.  These shoes had already
been without incident to Copter Ridge and lots of other peaks, they've
got literally hundreds of miles under their laces, perhaps even
thousands.  But yesterday, maybe because I offended them with my
choice of socks, they turned on me and chewed up the knuckles on my
next-to-the-little toes (can I possibly call those "ring toes"?)

What was different?  Well, when I wore these shoes to Copter Ridge, I
wore them with cotton socks.  Having since learnt that Cotton Is Evil,
I'd swapped in some CoolMax "light hiking" socks that seemed to be of
a similar weight.  There's really not room in the shoes for thicker
socks.  What bad things happen (besides no blisters) if I go back to
cotton?  I know it doesn't dry as fast, but my feet don't sweat, or
don't sweat enough to really notice, so if I packed a spare pair as
insurance against clumsy stream crossings, would that cover the
downside?

A related issue is, where can I find hiking boots?  The shoes are OK,
but the soles aren't lugged and I'm not as surefooted as I'd like to
be on steep loose terrain.  The problem is that I have very high
volume feet, and while I can find shoes in my size, boots don't seem
to exist.  The shoes are 7 EEE.  My current boots came from
L. L. Bean, and are 7 1/2 D.  They're that little bit too long, which
discourages me from going to an 8 for more volume, but they're too
narrow and if I wear anything other than light socks (the CoolMaxes
that did me in yesterday, but work OK in the boots), they pinch
painfully at the widest spot of my foot, just behind my toes.  Men's
boots are wider, but the sizing is a bit different -- I think I'd need
a 6, and I've not had any luck finding a store that stocks men's boots
in sizes that small.

Someone recommended Adventure 16 in West Los Angeles as having expert
bootfitters, but when I drove all the way down there (an hour and a half
from here), I ended up being served by a chatty friendly guy who brought
me exactly one pair of boots, into which I couldn't even get my foot
past the collar, let alone into the boot.  He then shrugged and said
he didn't have anything else.  The guy at Sport Chalet, apparently thinking
my feet were made of something malleable like hamburger (which I guess
is where we're going at this rate), wanted me to try 8 1/2 mediums -- we
could just slice off the sides of my feet and stuff them into the toe box,
I guess?

Well, enough whining.  (The moleskin package recommends whining,
wincing, and walking with a limp as the proper response to blisters,
so I'm just following directions.)  Seriously, has anyone on this list
had a good experience with a bootfitter?  If I had a name, I could
phone ahead and make sure the right person would be there before
hitting a store.  Is there anywhere with a particularly huge selection
of sizes?  Where do boys buy their boots?  I'd willingly buy a boy's
boot, as I suspect that's what most likely to fit.  Alternatively, has
anyone ever had boots custom made?  I'd pay reasonably big bucks for a
boot that actually is shaped something like my bizarre feet.

In the meantime, what can I do to moderate the problem?  Would taping
the trouble spots before starting out help?  Should I go all the way
to moleskin?  Take up macrame and forget bagging peaks?  

Thrown back by Mount Islip, how embarrassing!

Karen