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I got my hiking poles out yesterday and cleaned and readjusted them. Was kinda disappointed to find all the hardware corroded and rusty. I guess using them at the beach those first few months made a mess of the connectors... I may have to go pole shopping now!
Rainy today, so it was a rest day, but spent most of it getting gear and food ready for our backpacking trip to Isle Royale in a week. Can't wait! My knee is much better, and I think with my poles and a knee brace I'll do okay. One of my concerns is the heel blister I keep getting with my new boots (but my old ones chewed my feet all over). Anyone ever used Trail Toes? I got some, but not sure if it will save me. I read good stuff about it.
I cannot believe how much prep time it takes to get ready. Just divvying up the food and gear, figuring out meals, quadruple-checking lists to be sure we have everything. Glad I kept good notes last year, but there's still a bit of fuzzy math in determining how much food and TP for 11 days.
I'm pretty excited to use my new gear - hubby got me a new down quilt for my 50th last fall - 1 lb 0.5 oz for a 900 fill Downtek 30° quilt. And a Thermarest Xtherm sleeping pad for Christmas, as well as a new pillow and new poles since last summer. Overall, I've shaved 30 oz off my gear since last summer (and about 12 lbs off myself).
Now - if I could just find my Smartwool long underwear bottoms I haven't seen since ski season.........
Any chance you could to the trip in trail runners or light hikers? Something I learned over the course of six knee surgeries is properly fitted hiking boots are SUPPOSED to transfer some of the impact energy from your feet and ankles up the leg to your knees and thighs. I stopped wearing them and it helped my knee quite a bit.
That's a good suggestion, but probably not on Isle Royale (very rocky, very tough footing in places) with a 40+ lb pack. I did wear trail runners there one time, on a shorter trip with about 30 lb, and blistered pretty badly. I think the brace I wore there last year, a couple months after a knee sprain, will be fine. What I need most seems to be protection from wrenching & instability more than anything.
Wow - 6 knee surgeries - yikes!
Yeah, when I was young I thought firefighting, softball, rock climbing, rappelling, and rugby would be a fun way to spend my time, it was but I paid for it. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Skierchickie2
Have fun Skierchickie! It sounds like you've a great trip lined up. FOR ME I've found that I can't go any less than full backpacking boots on dirt trails but that's more due to my arthritic feet rather than my bad knees. I think my light hikers would be fine for trails around here if it weren't for my feet.
Pax, somehow I missed that you've had that many knee surgeries - yikes! My one last year was bad enough...
Speaking of which, all of a sudden there has been some improvement in my bad knee. They said it could take up to a full year to see the complete benefit from my surgery and they seemed to have been right. Is it perfect? Far from it, but better than it was. Hopefully the new orthotics will persuade my feet to get back in line.
Catrin, that is great! So glad you turned a corner. Isn't it funny how that happens, it just gets somewhat better, like magic!
The first five surgeries are what led up to the replacement, all on my right knee... I protect my unblemished left knee like a mama bear and her cub. :D
Thanks Catrin! I am so ready. My pack is all loaded and just sitting there. It's to the point that I'd better go soon, because I keep sneaking little odds & ends into it (the "what if" stuff). It's 37.5 lbs now, without any water, and without my poles (since they won't be in the pack). So I'm looking at about 43 lbs. About 11 is food. I was really hoping to keep it under 40 total. i just cannot pack light, no matter how hard I try.
Glad your knee is improving! That has to be encouraging!
I'm sitting here working cocoa butter into the nice scar on my knee
I actually use chafing cream on my feet when I backpack, the same cream I use for bike touring :). Seems to help.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skierchickie2
Thanks for mentioning that. We just did a three-day hiking weekend at Glacier Park and as usual I have epic heel blisters, in spite of careful choosing of hiking boots, preventive bandaids, etc. Maybe I should try using either chafing cream or vaseline or SOMETHING.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky King
Salsa bike - I assume you're wearing sock liners under your hiking socks? I found it hard to believe that 2 pairs were better than one but it's proved to be true.
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I cannot do liners, they squeeze my feet terribly. But, I always use Body Glide on my feet before hiking, snow shoeing, and sometimes, cross country skiing.
I tried the liners under the socks! It was the day I got the epic blisters. I think it's some form of original sin of my feet. Drives me NUTS. I spent a ton of time choosing the boots a couple of years ago, and doing the liners, and and and. Agh. I am going to try to remember the Body Glide thing. Maybe if I put some in my backpack now, so it lives there. I have a pile of it somewhere from triathlon times. If Chris hadn't done a splendiferous bandaging job, we wouldn't have been able to do the rest of the hikes we'd planned, 22 miles over three days and moderate elevation gains. For those of you who are Glacier Park lovers: Iceberg Lake, Swiftcurrent Valley, and Hidden Lake. Wildflowers, snowfields, mountain goats.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catrin
I am pondering custom made hiking boots. Hate to do it but I may.
I have "barefoot" hiking boots on order from Vivobarefoot - we'll see how that goes. I think my toe spread is too wide for any standard boots now (I've been doing barefoot style shoes for a while) - even my men's Keen boots (so super wide toe box) are causing toe issues now.Quote:
Originally Posted by salsabike
Yikes Salsa and Blueberry - hope both of you can find a solution. Sadly - due to LOTS of rain this month, my hiking boots haven't touched dirt since the last weekend of July. I'm in withdrawal...parking 1.5 miles from work and walking on pavement in downtown Indianapolis just isn't the same.