Take Care of Your Feet

I've always neglected to do much maintenance on my feet until it was too late to walk comfortably. I've suffered from plantar warts, jungle rot, athlete's foot, and many other seemingly minor foot ailments which, on an extended hike, can become extremely troublesome.

After last weekend's dousing, my feet were wet too long and, when dried, the soles of my feet became tough and painful. After some time soaking and grinding down the tough spots with a pumice stone my feet, once again, feel normal. It seems strange that toughened soles would be less preferable to the long-distance hiker but, in my experience, if it's painful just to stand up it's going to be excruciating to walk many, many miles.

I'm curious to hear AktoMan weigh in on the issue of foot care. There must be more that can be done in the field and a guy who's preparing to cross Scotland on foot must have a cure or two up his sleeve.

Take care of your feet, they're what are going to get you from here to there and back again...

Thanks for reading,


B