Barefoot hiking

Are there anybody here into in Barefoot hiking? Are you active in any group?

 

Sounds painful...

 

i live right next to a redwood state park. i go for hikes all the time.. barefoot, of course. i've been looking for a barefoot hiking group in this area. (i'm suprised i haven't found one yet.)

 

There are groups around the US and some German & British groups it's fun to participate and share your experiences. (like we do in this group) It is also something you can do everyday by yourself. In the summer I usually hike 25 miles a week, winter isn't as easy, but I still go out everyday. Hiking alone you can go as slow or fast as you want. In a group there is some compromising on speed but if you get a chance by all means join them. I've met some real nice folks and hope to do another group hike soon.

 

Sounds like someone who's never tried it. I'll take a little soreness in my foot muscles over blisters and hotspots on my achilles anyday!

Seriously, walking barefoot on the earth while hiking is one of the most pleasant sensations there is. Yes, if you step wrong, or you don't watch where you're going you can hurt yourself...but one of the most wonderful things ABOUT barefoot hiking is how much more aware it makes you of where you are and where you are going. It's actually funny but true, that taking off one's shoes actually opens one's eyes!

 

i didnt know there were groups for it.... i barefoot hike all the time.

 

I tried to form a group for the Pacific Northwest called Northwest Footprints. I went to the trouble of making up fliers and getting an internet presence, but after repeated postings of events to Craigslist and other local outdoors message boards, and getting absolutely NO replies...I gave up figuring I was one of a handful of people in our area who liked going barefoot. :-(

 

i'd love to hike barefoot. but, i just started walkin barefoot. and i need to build up some callouses.

plus, i'd be SO scared of stepping on a poisones (sp??) spider! or any other bug.

 

My barefoot hiking is alone, or sometimes with my son. As Matthew says, no one else (that we know of) is into it. Certainly not here in the northeast, that's for sure.

I've been doing a lot of it this year, though! That's a good thing.

 

I barefoot hike alot, I probably average 5-15 miles a week, sometimes more sometimes less. One thing that was reallly awesome was the first time i hiked my favorite trail which is 5 miles, barefoot the whole time. When I started out after 2 miles I had to put on my flip flops for a bit. I gradually got stronger feet though.
There is a statewide group here in indiana and another in ohio. I have never been on a group hike because I always have to seem to work when one is planned.

 

I didn't mean (in my post in this thread about us being such a minority) to skip over the positive things you point up here. It IS one of the pleasantest sensations there is. Yes, a wrong step can hurt. Even badly. But most especially, as you say, "taking off one's shoes actually opens one's eyes." Yes!

 

I live within 17 miles of an awesome state park with mountains, streams, waterfalls, etc. I've hiked every trail in the park bf. Sometimes I get comments from people, non have been negative. They mostly ask how it feels. The last time the family and I were at the park, we passed another family with teenage girls. One of the girls was bf. She is the ONLY other person I've seen bf hike besides me. My son has tried it on several occasions.

3 weeks ago, my wife and I were in Glacier National Park and I hiked several trails bf. I also hiked above the "M" on the mountain side above the University of Montana. I got quite a few comments on that one, again non were negative. A husband and wife passed us and he commented "bf huh? I'm impressed". She said, "what's it like?" I replied, "like a good foot massage", she said, "That's really awesome."

 

You need really tough feet, unless you have a trail.

 

I would say you need STRONG feet, not tough feet. I can actually handle a long barefoot hike, whereas my feet get tired after only a few minutes of pavement. Likely it's due to the fact that the earth is forgiving, while manmade materials aren't. And after a barefoot hike, my soles don't feel any thicker or ragged...but with pavement I definitely feel it afterwards. But that's me...I definitely qualify as the tenderfoot in the group.

 

Yes, i've been into barefoot hiking for many years. I joined the UK barefoot hikers in '01, and hiked regularly with them untill their recent demise. We still do it, but not in an organised way. I do at least ten miles every weekend. It's the most fun you can have with your feet!

 

werd.

 

I like barefoot hiking, but im not a member of any group.
We tend to think barefoot hiking have to be that much of an adventure. I think to walk the dog in the woods or walk along the beach could be just as much of barefoot hiking. And why not walk in the city? I don´t know what it´s like in the US, maybe it´s more European, but in Sweden there are kind of old parts of town with cobblestone streets and gravel sidewalks. I think that´s just as good barefoot hiking.
There are a lot of different surfaces to walk on, grass, mud, sand, leaves, for example. It´s a matter of personal choise. So I could not say it hurts in general, actually it´s great.
Lose gravel on the pavement could be more uncomfortable.
You don´t need tough soles to start barefoot hiking, on the opposite it makes your soles tough.
I think it´s more easy for beginners to start barefoot hiking than start on the streets.

I think the idea of barefoot hiking groups are fun, but we don´t have such a thing in Sweden.
When i read about groups in the world I belive it´s hard to do in the real life.
The homepages are not often updated and if so, there are still not much activities.
I think groups have to be very local, otherwise I think it´s hard to do practical.
It´s hard to drive a long way, with you family or on your own, and meet up with people you don´t know. And it´s even harder for the kids to participate.

 

I enjoy barefoot hiking... but I'm not aware of any barefoot hiking groups near me. My favorite place is the Flint Hills. Lots of prairie grasses and a few rocks. If I'm in a wooded area, I keep an eye out for thorn trees and bushes. But it's a truly relaxing experience. When I hike barefoot, I tend to take a slower pace and enjoy the hike more than I do when I wear boots.

 

Revisiting this thread! I have done almost all my warm season hiking barefoot, on the mountains in Acadia National Park. I only eschew loose pointed gravel sitting on hard surfaces---won't give---I can take quite a lot of this, but not several miles of it. No fun. But happily, my flops, as one site called it, "decorate my backpack." I get comments, but mostly in wonderment and admiration. Not like in damn stores. Once in awhile I get to deliver my sermon on the benefits.

Strangely, after one longish hike which took me up two summits, my feet were tender near the very end of it. Remember, and for those who don't know, I work outside barefoot all the time, much of it on the same kinds of surfaces I hike. I'm wondering why it was that I was sore there. But thankfully it was not a lasting soreness.

 

Hey, Barefoot Matthew, I know this post is over a year old, but I have a website link to a small (4 members) barefoot hiking group up there in the Seattle area. I'm not sure if these guys are still actively hiking barefoot, but you might want to e-mail Bruce Collier or Billy Gard, who help to organize the hikes. Before I forget, here's the link:

http://geocities.com/duckfeetbilly/

Hope you guys can all hook up and take a nice barefoot hike sometime!