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who else caches/hikes barefoot!


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I am somewhat of a wuss as far as stepping on things that are prickly and/or squishy. I'll wear sandals, flip flops even... but not bare feet. I wish I could!

 

The guy is sick..... :D and ugly :laughing:

 

GOF I'll try anything once - one look was enough - man, I am gonna have nightmares tonight.

 

Well, that just seems mean. What did you expect to see? He just seems like a regular guy enjoying life (naked) to me. I'm new here, so maybe you know him and this is a standing joke or something... otherwise, just petty.

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What do you do about ticks, chiggers, and mosquitoes? Do you use bug repellent on your feet? Just the tops of your feet? And what about snakes? I admit that is my greatest fear. I'm afraid that I'll be hiking and suddenly a snake (or swarm of snakes in my nightmares) will suddenly emerge and bite my feet.

 

Carolyn

 

Mosquitos will bite any exposed skin so go ahead and spray repellent as required (spraying the bottoms of your feet is pretty pointless though). For chiggers, the spray should take care of them as well. Ticks are interesting... would you believe I "feel" them crawling on my feet way before they have a chance to bite so I have an early warning and will dispatch them to the afterlife post haste! Afraid of snakes, eh? Here's some comforting personal information... My son spent three days in the hospital after being bitten by a water moccasin in Florida. Where did it bite him, you may ask? About half way up his calf! Shoes would have made no difference. I can't help assuage your fear of snakes but you should always watch your step if you're wearing shoes or not.

 

For those in the south there's another critter to think about... FIRE ANTS! I have stepped on their mounds while wearing shoes and while barefoot - shod is worse. Why? When barefoot I can usually feel the texture of the sandy mound underfoot and recognize it for what it is before they even have a chance to bite. If you're wearing shoes those little buggers will swarm all the way up your leg before you know it and then you're dancing around trying to pull off your shoes and socks but it will be too late.

 

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you would like more information or encouragement.

 

Thank you so much for the information and encouragement! Shortly after your post we travelled to Denver and I found that hiking in Kansas and Oklahoma barefoot was blissful. (Denver was a mixed bag.)

 

I don't recall seeing fire ants here in Memphis. I would think the ground would be too wet for them. Are there fire ants in swamps, sloughs, and wetlands?

 

I must say that your "comforting personal information" about snakes was not comforting. But that's ok. My beloved believes that telling me that "most snakes are not poisonous" and that "they're afraid of you" is comforting. One of my friends believes that telling me that "snakes can be anywhere, not just the ground, remember to check the trees" is comforting.

 

For a confirmed snake phobic like myself the only comforting words would be, "there are no snakes in this part of the world" or "barefoot hiking wards off snakes since they can't stand the smell of feet." But no one is going to tell me that (and I wouldn't believe them if they did). I am just going to have to do the best I can to geocache while pretending that snakes don't really exist.

 

I will definitely take your advice to ward off insects from the tops of my feet by spreading my bug repellant there. Strangely enough, the bugs have been avoiding my feet when I wear the Vibram FiveFinger shoes. The mosquitoes zero in on any scrap of skin along my arms and shoulders or face that my repellant missed and the ticks seem to prefer to crawl onto my hands and shirt. Chiggers is another story altogether. I go through every summer (barefoot or not) with little chigger bumps. Perhaps the repellent will work this year.

 

BTW, how long did it take the muscles along the tops of your feet to adjust to barefooting? Mine ache, which was a surprise since I expected to feel more pain in my calves than along the tops of my feet.

 

Thanks again!

Carolyn

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Zolgar does not. Zolgar has fairly tough feet (though not as good as he used too), and can tolerate some semblance of stabbyness. However Zolgar caches in Arizona.

 

Urban caches are too screwn with broken glass, not to mention the hot ground in the summer time.

 

rural caches.. Well, got one word: cactus. Way too much cacti in the areas Zolgar caches in for him to even consider it barefooted.

 

Also, he tends to like doing some of his caching from his bike, which he has special shoes for that hook in to his pedals. Removing and replacing shoes every time would be a PITA.

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...BTW, how long did it take the muscles along the tops of your feet to adjust to barefooting? Mine ache, which was a surprise since I expected to feel more pain in my calves than along the tops of my feet.

 

Thanks again!

Carolyn

 

Carolyn, congratulations on your "blissful" barefoot hike! Sounds like you're well on your way to being a true barefooter. The muscle aches will subside fairly soon assuming you keep at it. It's like any other muscle you don't use on a regular basis being called to action. Imagine wearing a cast on your arm every waking moment all your life and then to take it off and try to play tennis - it's about the same thing.

 

As for the fear of snakes... just repeat 500 times "snakes fear bare feet and run away!" But honestly, they are an ever present animal that would much rather avoid you. The reason my son was bitten was because he stepped directly on the snake and the snake reacted in defense instinctively. It certainly didn't come after my son and sneak up on him!

 

Fire ants? I think they are mostly in the southeastern US from Texas through southern Virginia. You'd have to look on some bug web site to find out the details. I know that we don't have them in Maryland for which I am grateful!

 

Keep up the barefoot hiking and you'll have to keep me posted with your progress.

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Carolyn-

There are no snakes in Alaska. It's safe here, as long as you can handle bears and moose.

 

Thank you, Tzipora. Such is the irrational nature of my fear of snakes that I am far more afraid of the most harmless grass snake than I am of bears and moose.

 

Knowing that there are no snakes in Alaska certainly makes it sound like an appealing place. Can you actually hike barefoot in Alaska?

 

Carolyn

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Well, I did it. I went ~3.5 miles this evening barefoot, and got four caches along the way. It's oddly freeing in many ways, not the least of which being several pounds less you're lifting with every step. A few stony areas were less than pleasant, but overall, it really made me feel more in touch (no pun intended) with my surroundings.

 

Strangely, my big toe and heel still feel blistery. I thought this would free me of that.

 

ETA: Yes, I had socks and shoes in my backpack. But I didn't have to resort to them.

 

Appended the next morning: Ow! Blisters! Both big toes! What's the deal?!

Edited by Dinoprophet
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...Ow! Blisters! Both big toes! What's the deal?!

 

Congratulations on your accomplishment! Sorry about the blisters though... That's not something I would usually expect but would likely attribute to overcompensating your gait due to the unfamiliar nature of hiking barefoot. When wearing shoes people generally walk heel-to-toe but you will discover that when walking barefoot you will land on the ball of your foot a split second before your heel. This is magnified when walking in rough terrain so you're spending a lot of time walking on your toes. Give it another try and you'll see what I'm talking about. As an extra experiment, try RUNNING barefoot - it's amazing how years of running heel-to-toe in shoes goes right out the window and your brain automatically shifts to its natural gait described above.

 

Was this along a trail in the woods? A well-worn dirt path or trudging around in the brush? Keep me posted!

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...So are you saying I should be walking more on my toes, or that's what causing blisters? I'm not clear on that.

 

I meant that when walking barefoot it is natural to land on your forefoot instead of your heel. If you're not used to rough terrain then this will of course lead to wear and blisters quicker than usual. The vast majority of people land on their HEELS while wearing SHOES. What barefoot hikers end up doing is landing on their TOES. It's okay! It's not that you're "supposed" to do it this way, it's just what you will naturally do. The blisters will heal, callous will develop, and your body will adapt.

 

I think it's kind of interesting that modern appliances like shoes can change the way we're wired to do things - and often in a bad way. Keep at it but just make a conscious mental note to pay attention to your gait. If you try to force yourself to walk heel-to-toe your brain will override you! And like I mentioned in my previous post this gait is even more noticeable if you try RUNNING barefoot.

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Well, I'll try it a few more times at least. I did enjoy it while I was doing it.

 

One thing I ran into while trying this is that I had a tendency to overdo it in the beginning. I think since the body is using different muscles and learning to walk differently, I needed to start slow. My beloved is now starting to do this as well and we're starting him on no more than one mile until that is easy and pleasant and doesn't result in pain the next day. You might want to just back off a bit on the mileage and move up slowly.

 

Carolyn

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Well, I'll try it a few more times at least. I did enjoy it while I was doing it.

 

One thing I ran into while trying this is that I had a tendency to overdo it in the beginning. I think since the body is using different muscles and learning to walk differently, I needed to start slow. My beloved is now starting to do this as well and we're starting him on no more than one mile until that is easy and pleasant and doesn't result in pain the next day. You might want to just back off a bit on the mileage and move up slowly.

 

Carolyn

You're probably right, 3.5 miles may well have been too much the first time out. barefooters.org says that blisters may be the result of overdoing it.

Edited by Dinoprophet
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You're probably right, 3.5 miles may well have been too much the first time out. barefooters.org says that blisters may be the result of overdoing it.

 

Blisters are not a usual problem with barefoot hiking. My guess is that too much distance, too soon, combined with a beginner's tendency to walk on tiptoe, caused the blisters. Once you get the hang of barefooting and the skin on your feet toughens up a little you'll be practically immune to blisters.

 

If you get blisters frequently, there's another possible cause: minor dehydration/electrolyte loss. Here in the desert the linkage is more obvious than elsewhere, since a couple of hours of hard toil in 100°+ heat will cause noticeable slackness and shrinkage of the skin. Fingers and toes start to look like you've been in the bath too long. This condition greatly increases vulnerability to blisters. This may not be a factor in your case, but I thought I'd bring it up.

 

There's a great book for distance runners and hikers called "Fixing Your Feet." It identifies common foot problems, causes and treatments, and spends a great deal of time on blister prevention. Best thing about the book is that I stopped needing its advice shortly after I started barefooting :o

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Well, I'll try it a few more times at least. I did enjoy it while I was doing it.

 

One thing I ran into while trying this is that I had a tendency to overdo it in the beginning. I think since the body is using different muscles and learning to walk differently, I needed to start slow. My beloved is now starting to do this as well and we're starting him on no more than one mile until that is easy and pleasant and doesn't result in pain the next day. You might want to just back off a bit on the mileage and move up slowly.

 

Carolyn

 

Wow i forgot to check this thread last couple weeks, glad to see my new friend Shiraz helping with questions!

Also it makes me smile to think of geocarolyn and hubby ow ow owwing thru the woods for the first time!

 

:D

 

There is this insane little widget for igoogle, called "how to of the day", it shows one or two topics on my igoogle page. Not long after posting this i actually saw a "how to begin hiking barefoot" listed in the topics.

LOL Not a whole lot of brain power involved, although there were a couple great hints for people new to this sort of activity. Mostly mentioned above by Shiraz (start out in the backyard/driveway, and small hikes not 10mile rocky courses) but one thing that they mentioned that i actually took note of was this.

You need to "learn" to walk this way, your feet are slaves to your shoes/sneakers and what not. If you think about it as you are first doing it (conciously) you will learn to hike correctly barefooted. One great point they made, Place your feet straight down, don't "scuff" your way thru the woods. Also they suggested that you should use the ball of your foot landing first. As far as balance goes, if you place the ball of your foot down first, and you hit something nasty (gooey or sharp), you can adjust much easier then if you are walking on your heels.

 

Amazed at all the replies to this thread, and glad to see Me and Nudecacher arent the only ones trying to be a bit more intune with nature. As far as the bug-bites, sharp objects etc. go, well my feet always take the brunt of the bug bites, and after living in the desert, the swamps of florida and new england i guess ive learned to take it. But as a few others mentioned im also the person who people are surprised to see WEARING shoes... .so i was a bit more prepared to start caching/hiking barefoot.

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I did my first (and probably last) cache berefoot yesterday. I just got out of the hospital (day surgery on my sholder), and was having a drug prescription filled. I was wearing some thong flip flops. My feet were getting sore, so went barefoot. On the way in, I was walking on a dust trail with a lot of rocks. On the way out, I found a foot bridge, so walked on the other side of the creek on a paved trail. Actualy, I ran on the paved trail on the way out. It was about a 1.2km hike each way. My feet are a little sore, but not as sore as if I had kept my sandles on.

Edited by Andronicus
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as a diabetic i would never be able to cache barefoot but i would love to!

 

i went barefoot all during my younger years and now my feet look really bad because i have scars from ringworm, yuck. i do have many wonderful memories of the bottoms being purple from the mulberry trees that surround my house, lol.

they used to be tough as nails but no longer.

 

Same goes for me. I'm a diabetic as well, and I wouldn't even try it. I don't consider myself any less in tune with nature because I have to wear shoes. Being 'in tune' is extremely important to me. I'm an amateur botanist of sorts and I love to study edible plants, etc. But I'm sorry... I was unlucky when it comes to my health, so shoes it is for me. Wearing shoes allows me to go out into the world and explore and exercise, and thus try to improve my health as much as possible.

Edited by nymphnsatyr
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Cody Lundin would, if he geocaches.

 

Oh my. I knew before even reading the page that this guy had something to do with Sedona...

He is one half of the stars of the new Dual Survivor show on Discovery Channel. Its a fun show. They pair him up with a battle-hardened ex-paratrooper.

 

If they ever got into a real survival situation that wasn't scripted and backed by a huge support staff which one do you think would end up in the stock pot? :rolleyes:

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Cody Lundin would, if he geocaches.

 

Oh my. I knew before even reading the page that this guy had something to do with Sedona...

He is one half of the stars of the new Dual Survivor show on Discovery Channel. Its a fun show. They pair him up with a battle-hardened ex-paratrooper.

 

Ah, I see. I don't watch television, so I never know what's what. I want to get that 98.6 book! It looks kinda nifty!

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Cody Lundin would, if he geocaches.

 

Oh my. I knew before even reading the page that this guy had something to do with Sedona...

He is one half of the stars of the new Dual Survivor show on Discovery Channel. Its a fun show. They pair him up with a battle-hardened ex-paratrooper.

 

If they ever got into a real survival situation that wasn't scripted and backed by a huge support staff which one do you think would end up in the stock pot? :rolleyes:

No doubt about that one... it wouldn't be the red meat guy!!
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I did my first (and probably last) cache berefoot yesterday. I just got out of the hospital (day surgery on my sholder), and was having a drug prescription filled. I was wearing some thong flip flops. My feet were getting sore, so went barefoot. On the way in, I was walking on a dust trail with a lot of rocks. On the way out, I found a foot bridge, so walked on the other side of the creek on a paved trail. Actualy, I ran on the paved trail on the way out. It was about a 1.2km hike each way. My feet are a little sore, but not as sore as if I had kept my sandles on.

Clearly, turning back was not an option!

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I did my first (and probably last) cache berefoot yesterday. I just got out of the hospital (day surgery on my sholder), and was having a drug prescription filled. I was wearing some thong flip flops. My feet were getting sore, so went barefoot. On the way in, I was walking on a dust trail with a lot of rocks. On the way out, I found a foot bridge, so walked on the other side of the creek on a paved trail. Actualy, I ran on the paved trail on the way out. It was about a 1.2km hike each way. My feet are a little sore, but not as sore as if I had kept my sandles on.

Clearly, turning back was not an option!

 

You are a braver person than I! My feet hurt just reading that!!

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If they ever got into a real survival situation that wasn't scripted and backed by a huge support staff which one do you think would end up in the stock pot? :unsure:

 

Apparently, you aren't familiar with his skill level or his barefoot pain tolerance. Most of his remote trips aren't done with safety/support crews.

 

http://www.codylundin.com/ultimate_abo.html

 

 

Ah, I see. I don't watch television, so I never know what's what. I want to get that 98.6 book! It looks kinda nifty!

 

I own both of his books, and have read them both twice. His other book, "When all Hell Breaks Loose," is phenomenal too.

 

He has a bunch of videos on Youtube. This series is enjoyable to watch. http://www.youtube.com/user/abodudeman#p/u/8/ALUTDJlhKb8

Edited by Kit Fox
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I own both of his books, and have read them both twice. His other book, "When all Hell Breaks Loose," is phenomenal too.

 

He has a bunch of videos on Youtube. This series is enjoyable to watch. http://www.youtube.com/user/abodudeman#p/u/8/ALUTDJlhKb8

 

Thanks for the youtube link! I did buy the book. It's very good. I'm quite impressed. I'm glad I got it rather than just letting myself be fooled by the appearance of his website. He's actually quiet a knowledgeable guy and pretty hardcore.

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I'm expecting to have a pretty busy week at work. And the semester just started, so I've got homework to do in the evening.

 

If I had more free time, I think it would be interesting to study the correlation between people who post in this thread, and people who post in the "Have you been hurt while geocaching?" thread.

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I have questions for the barefoot hikers out there. I picked up a pair of five fingers a little over a month ago and have done some caching/hiking about 6 times now, each time getting a bit more adventurous. I had gotten up to a 5.5 mile hike on a mostly dirt, pine forest trail.Today I took a trail that I was not familiar with which turned out to be mostly gravel road and it was about 6.5 miles.

 

My question is do your feet toughen up to the gravel like this or is it better to switch to more padded sole like a trekking sandal for this type of terrain? I really enjoy the five fingers and am planning on doing more in them as well as moving to go barefoot. If the feet can toughen up to walking on gravel then I can suck up a little discomfort to reach my goals but I'm not afraid to do sandals if they are appropriate for some terrains.

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On the trail: poison oak/ivy, fire ants, glass, roots, snakes, and hookworms.

 

No thanks. But as soon as I hit the front door the shoes fly off.

 

Cholla cactus (and other spiny plants), scorpions, Gila Monsters, Black Widows, Velvet Ants...I might take the clothes off, but I'm keeping SOMETHING on my feet!

just don't back into a cactus.

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I have questions for the barefoot hikers out there... do your feet toughen up to the gravel like this or is it better to switch to more padded sole like a trekking sandal for this type of terrain?

 

Hey jsargent,

 

I cache and hike barefoot quite often! (check out some of my pictures...) I also bought a pair of Vibram FiveFingers a few months ago and used them on a 25 mile backpacking trip along the AT. I have tried to do the AT barefoot but honestly, the terrain is so varied with rocky sections outnumbering the smooth dirt and grass sections, that going fully barefoot is difficult - even for a "pro" like me. But I did find that the VFF's added just enough protection that no other shoe was necessary. If you keep at it you WILL build up your tolerance to the pain experienced when first starting out but again, know your limits. I love to hike barefoot but there is nothing wrong with carrying backup footwear. Personally, I prefer Teva Terra-Fi's over the VFF's because the Tevas are a lot easier to take on and off as the trail conditions change. If you have any questions feel free to PM me! I look forward to hearing about your progress.

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Except for the stubbed toe the feet are recovering nicely. I was thinking of going for a run this evening in the five fingers but I think I'll geve it another day or so. I had looked at the Teva Fi but the new model has some poor reviews so I may try the Katavi.

 

For the last 20 years or so I have had good quality, heavy duty hiking boots and quite honestly I feel I am less likely to turn an ankle in these five fingers. I just need to learn to keep picking up the feet to aviod stubbing the toe. I do feel more in tune with my surrounds though and while my boots will still have their place, I will be weraring them less and less.

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