The Barefoot Hiker: NOT ME!

I found this book and just thinking about the topic nearly made me lose my lunch. For me walking barefoot is the epitome of evilness. Generally speaking I keep my shoes until I am crawling into bed. I have sensitive feet and don’t like anything touching them. I know where this attitude came from too. I grew up in a busy house with 3 other kids and we had lots of stuff and lots of pets. My foot always seemed to find something to step on, accidentally kick, or step in. Also, while I was growing up my parents were constantly renovating the house so nails, screws, splinters, glass, insulation fibers, etc. always were a constant threat of stabbing me in the feets.

Another possibility for my overprotecting of my feet goes back to when I was 13. My first year at Boy Scout Camp, I wore some brand new hiking boots my mother had just bought me, and on the first night we went and did the big hike up the mountain. I got blisters. Bad ones. So for the next couple of days I had to keep my boots off so my blisters could heel. Well, I got chigger bites, mosquito bites, and poison Ivy on my feet. So then I stopped wearing my sandals so much and went to wearing the boots untied and without socks, so my feet could breath but still be somewhat protected. It was crazy because each night I had to soak my feet in a bath of water and baking soda (not sure what that does). Well, one morning I went to put my boot on and got bit on the bottom of my foot by a huge ass spider. The spider bite hurt, itched, turned my foot purple, and made it so I couldn’t walk much at all. This was all in the span of 7 days. When I finally stumbled home I had to go through weeks and weeks of healing before I could really walk correctly again.

There were also two other dumb things I did that week. This was quite some time ago, they had just released these giant jawbreaker balls called dinosaur eggs and basically you just lick them for awhile and put them back in the case til you need another sugar rush. They were about the size of a tennis ball. My friend and I each bought one and tried to race to see who could finish theirs first. I licked the hell out of that thing and eventually my tongue started bleeding. I had to rest my tongue but my friend somehow kept going. I didn’t give up though, I kept taking it out of the little plastic bubble and licking for as long as my tongue could take it. Eventually I conceded the victory and threw that stupid thing away. The other dumb thing I did was immediately buy a Therm-A-Rest pad to lay under my sleeping bag. I spent the entire amount my parents had given me for the week on those two items. The problem was that I could only afford the cheapest model of Therm-A-Rest and it turned out to be about 2 feet to short for me and really not comfortable at all. It was a total bust. Those 7 days make up the most miserable week of my life.

Anyway here is the link to the book on amazon:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0898155258/ref=nosim/kkorg-20

Here is a link to the whole book online for free:
hometown.aol.com/bhthom/hikertxt.htm

Here are some short excerpts:

Once properly conditioned, your bare feet will give you a great deal of pleasure, but only if you care for them. Bathe them and remove any small thorns after each hike, rub them each day with oil, lotion, or lanolin – especially in winter. Take the time to keep them in the very best condition and take pride in them.

Take a walk in the woods on one of those delicious days when Autumn deigns to step aside for a late Indian Summer and the leaves are several inches deep on the forest floor and let your bare feet feel them — sometimes crackling with all the crispness of the Autumn air — sometimes whispering sensuously back to your bare soles with what seems a slightly soapy softness.