Barefoot hiking?

It is very animalistic, isn't

It is very animalistic, isn't it? That's what I love about feeling the natural earth under my paws...I mean feet.
 
 it just feels so right

it just feels so right :-D
 
Barefoot TJ wrote:It is very

Barefoot TJ said:
It is very animalistic, isn't it? That's what I love about feeling the natural earth under my paws...I mean feet



Today I raced a 5k at the Detroit Zoo called "Run Wild"

My bare feet seemed more appropriate then ever!
 
Now that would be a cool

Now that would be a cool race. Did you run among the cages and corrals and stuff? Weren't the animals scared of all that "foot" traffic?
 
The 1 mile walk was inside

The 1 mile walk was inside the zoo, the 5K and 10K runs ran around the zoo and neighborhood. The awards ceremony was inside the zoo, and the registration fee covered admission.

I ended up walking on a lot of natural terrain while waiting (5K was at 8:00, awards 10:30, had lots of barefoot explaining to do as usual.

Did O.K., 7'th out of 20 in my age group, 265 out of 1005 overall.
 
There are miles of trails

There are miles of trails (both paved and natural) in a local city park in central Arkansas and I have only been on a couple of them and it is great feeling to be barefoot in nature. It makes it more of an adventure than hiking in footwear, plus it make me more aware of the trail and its surroundings.



jeff in Arkansas
 
Barefoot TJ wrote:Who are

Barefoot TJ said:
Who are those sisters that hike barefoot everywhere, Board?

I know that question has been answered already, but here's a link to a podcast interview with both sisters.

http://www.trailcast.org/archives/16


EDIT: I believe the link no longer works.

I had downloaded it to an older computer that still should work, and I had burned a cd as well.

I'll get it to Y'all somehow!
 
 I tried it, here in what is

I tried it, here in what is basically the desert. There aren't too many trails within a couple hours of us, so going for a hike is a rare treat. I was happy with the terrain under my feet but every time I stopped to take a picture, ants attacked my feet like I was a dying wilderbeast. Would love to move back to Hawaii and do everything there again, barefoot. We hiked a ton, considering I was pregnant, newborn, pregnant, newborn...while we were there.
 
No offense to all you east

No offense to all you east coasters, but the Appalachian mountains are like the bunny slope version of the Rockies, haha. Still probably fun to hike in, but they're more like the Appalachian foothills really. (Now I'm going to hide from the retaliation comments!)

And yes TJ, we totally run barepaw. (Or bear paw maybe?)
 
 Hey Danjo.....I grew up

Hey Danjo.....I grew up hiking the Cascades and Olympics in WA state....as well as several excursions in the rockies....now, as an east coaster....and an A.T. fan....it's like comparing apples to oranges....if we're talking altitude only, then yes, the west has that beat....but if we're talking trails with vertical climb, and steep descents, things are about equal...BUT what is VERY different is the type of ground/trail one is hiking/running on, and it is wonderful paradise running/hiking out west where the loamy soil of a millinue of conifers have graced the earth with spongy bliss...to the trials of the A.T. with razor rocks and blazed paths that sometimes disappear into indistinguishable wood-land. Add to that the humid heat index in the summer of triple digits and the freezing rain and snow in the winter, REAL seasons with colorful boquets in both the spring and the fall....silence and solitude that a barren arboreal forest eerily conveys in the winter, and the multitudes of shades of green in the summer....give me the east coast / mid atlantic wilderness any day of the week :).



With that said, it took me two decades to call these "foot hills" mountains....but once you live here, you get it...they are old and wise, and laugh at the impetuous youth of the Rockies ;-)
 
I think I'll stick with my

I think I'll stick with my impetuous youth, haha. Never actually been to the east coast, but I hear the Ocean is warm, and thats discouraging enough for me. (I was born in Oregon, and you shouldn't be able to feel the ocean after the first half hour.)
 
I hike barefoot sometimes as

I hike barefoot sometimes as part of my runs in the north Georgia mountains when its too rough to run. Barefoot hiking is plenty dang fun on its own anyway!
 
I'm from San Diego

I'm from San Diego originally, and yes, the ocean is so cold, you have to acclimate to it a step at a time. I miss the waves on the west coast. What I do love about the east coast, although there are no waves unless there is a hurricane approaching, is the water is so warm, you can just walk right into it. It is so pleasant. That first time I walked into the east coast, I was expecting the freezing cold shock I get from the west coast, but there was none. It was fantastic.
 
Danjo, that's just the

Danjo, that's just the impetuous youthyness talking, actually being able to swim in the ocean without a wetsuit is freakin nice. I have little doubt that once you visit the east coast you'll appreciate it.

anywho, I haven't gone more than a few hundred feet on BF on my hikes, mostly I use my street runamocs to protect against rocks and stickers.... Squishy things and what could be hiding under squishy things scare me, I actually like the reliability of concrete=) I guess I'll have to try my next hike BF and see how it goes.
 
Sorry I haven't replied

Sorry I haven't replied lately, I have been on vacation in Jamaica. It's been real nice being barefoot for 6 days, love it. No shoes no problem mon!
 
Did you find places to run,

Did you find places to run, trails?
 
  I only ran on the beach,

I only ran on the beach, everything outside the resort was so 3rd world I just didn't feel comfortable. I really felt bad for those people T.J. some didn't even have a roof on their house, no hot water, and had babies in their with them. The resort was fenced all the way around with barbed wire and gates with armed security guards? The landscape with the mountains and beach looked great, but when you added in the extreme poverty it really wasn't great. It would literally break your heart to see all that. Makes you feel thankful for what you have here back in states!
 
kitsune wrote: I haven't

kitsune said:
I haven't gone more than a few hundred feet on BF on my hikes, mostly I use my street runamocs to protect against rocks and stickers.... Squishy things and what could be hiding under squishy things scare me, I actually like the reliability of concrete=) I guess I'll have to try my next hike BF and see how it goes.



It's not quiet as bad as you might imagine. Ive only been scraped once by thorns, they were off the trail, I was dodging a pile of leaves and got scraped by thorns, I would have probably been better of running through the leaves. It's really awesome to hike barefoot and experience the feel of nature and look at it too. It really relaxes your whole body! ;)
 
That's so sad, NR.  I wish

That's so sad, NR. I wish those people well. I guess you won't be going back there then.
 
Barefoot TJ wrote:That's so

Barefoot TJ said:
That's so sad, NR. I wish those people well. I guess you won't be going back there then.



The whole country is not like that just some of it. I probably would go back with a group like on a cruise ship or something.