Footwear & Feet
Flip flops, trainers, trail shoes or boots. Lots to pick from. flip flops might be the most comfortable, but offer little protection from rocks, and don’t offer support if you misplace your foot or slip. Boots are more cumbersome, and heavier, they are however going to be waterproof and give your feet support. so for our imaged trip, we are probably going to have some mud, rocks, water, plants. id be going for trail shoes or boots.
Other things to consider, if you go out and buy a new pair of shoes/boots, think about going to a outdoor shop, try on several pairs, make sure you have similar socks on to what your planning on walking in so you can get a realistic idea how they are going to fit/ feel. Don’t be afraid to go up a 1/2 size or even a whole size. You don’t want your feet crunched into the toe section of your boot (your gonna have a bad time if you do). Your feet need to be firmly held in the heal of the shoe and not move about. When your going up and down slopes, carrying a weighted bag, your weight will move about in the shoe, make sure this does not cause pressure points or to much shifting of your feet.
So, you have gone out tried on several pairs you like, found the size that fits well (or your have been online, ordered several pairs on your credit card, made your pick, and then sent the rest back) lets go? well, you can, however id go for a few shorter walks, wear them in a bit. wear them round the house, at least till they get used to your feet. get a few miles on them over a few weeks.
Socks, a short walk like this, your probably going to be fine with normal socks if your boots fit ok. however if this is something you can see yourself doing more of, or its going to be more strenuous, a longer distance. Maybe, then consider getting something a bit nicer, designed specifically for walking. Walking with sore feet sucks. Make sure you look after your feet at all costs.
So you have socks, good worn in and well fitting footwear, your walking for a few hours, you feel the beginning of a blister, STOP, if your feeling it now – you have already stared to damage your feet. STOP, take off your shoes, work out whats causing it, bit of fluff, a stone, or just squishy office worker feet like mine. Take care of it now before it ruins your day, put some moleskin or Compeed type plasters on the pressure point, adjust your laces, carry on. is this overkill? yes probably, but for the sake of 10 min and a plaster, save yourself the hassle of hurting your feet. This becomes more important on longer/multi day walks when you need to rack up multiple days of high mileage.