Foot care before and during a hike

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Scott Akridge

Some foot blisters on the big toe.

Mike Allen, the owner of First Place Athletics here in Huntsville, AL is an ultra-runner and employs a staff of athletic shoe fitting experts. He definitely puts some miles on his feet, so I was glad that we met to talk about foot care–before and during a hike or backpacking trip. Here is a the link to the podcast:

Foot Care in Preparing for a Hike

Shoes are one of the most important things, of course. Mike explains several problems that can happen with poor fitting shoes, and it’s more than blisters. Purchase shoes from a professional shop like Mike’s for the best fit. If you’ll be using a running shoe or trail runner try this at Runners World magazine to locate a place nearby. Pick the type of shoe for the type of terrain you’ll be covering. I’ve used running shoes on the AT since my start in Georgia, and wished I didn’t do that when I got to Pennsylvania.
Shoe inserts are also important and may be recommended when you purchase your shoes. Mike explains why, if you’re on the trail already, you may think twice before purchasing an insert.
Socks are also important. Mike says Olefin and wool are the best material for socks. It’s best to use a thin sock as a liner under your thicker sock. Train in this combination.
Sandals, toe-shoes, and sock-shoes are not good for hiking; we discuss why running shoes or hiking shoes still rule.
Skin care–get rid of corns before the hike but keep the calluses. Toughening the skin on your feet before the hike can be effective and Mike and I share some ideas about how to do that.

Foot Care During a Hike

Wet feet for a runner is not much of a problem, but for backpackers, it can be a much bigger problem. Change out socks to keep dry. Whenever you stop to rest, take your shoes and socks off to dry out. Mike mentions some useful products: Blistershield, sportshield, bodyglide, and Bag Balm to help lubricate the foot and reduce friction. He explains how to use them in the podcast.
What about blisters? Use Preparation ‘H’ on them! Yes, that’s right. You can put it on a blister–the sooner the better, popped or not. It also has some antibiotic in the formula. Then put duct tape- not a bandaid- over it. Be careful to not to let the tape become a friction spot by using just enough to cover the spot without wrinkling the tape.
Swelling can be caused by an electrolyte imbalance (ie. low sodium). You can take electrolyte capsules, Gatorade or a similar product. Remember that to much sodium can also be a problem and it has the same swelling problem. Sleeping on a slight incline, with your feet elevated above your feet or even soaking your feet in a cold stream can also help reduce swelling.
What can you do about pain? Taking a painkiller regularly is not a good idea and you’ll notice that the label directions state this. Remember, if you’re masking the pain, it can cause other problems. Learn how to pace your hike in training; it’s not a contest. No pain is YOUR gain.
What can you do about corns that develop on the hike? With corns you can sand it with a pumice stone or something similar to slowly rub the corn off over a few days. Once you’ve ground the corn then cover with duct tape.

Mike highly recommends a book by John Vonhof whose an expert in foot care and fixing your feet, here’s a link to his site.

6 ways to prevent Lyme Disease

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Scott Akridge

Lyme disease is becoming a bigger problem along the Appalachian Trail but still remain much more of a problem in the Northeast. Today I will be discussing 6 ways to prevent lyme disease along with some background on the little tick. Here is the podcast:

6 Ways to Prevent Lyme Disease Podcast

Lyme disease on the Appalachian Trail and in the eastern United States is transmitted by black legged tick. Here is a photo from the Center for Disease Control (CDC):

Black legged tick spreads lyme disease on the Appalachian Trail

Where are the most likely places to get lyme disease? According to the CDC you are far more likely to get lyme disease in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connectict and Massacheusetts than any other place on the Appalachian Trail.

This map shows the cases of lyme disease in the United States in 2010.

It does matter when you are out on the AT (ie. what month of the year) as to how like you are in contracting lyme. Here’s another good chart from the CDC.

This plot from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) shows the number of cases of lyme disease by month. Since it might take a week of two after being bitten to being diagnosed then you might want to include May.

What can lyme disease look like? Lyme disease produces a bullet, here’s some photos, a red area around where the tick bite occurred but sometimes it may not happen. I have a friend who didn’t have a bullet but was later diagnosed with Lyme.

I don’t want to scare people from going in the woods but now we’ll discuss some things you can do to prevent lyme disease when you do go out.

6 ways to prevent Lyme Disease

Use permethrin on your clothes and gear. It last over multiple washings but must be put on ahead of time so it can dry before being worn.
Deet (at least 20% deet though) can be used on your body
Examine yourself regularly. If you have an animal be sure you examine it also, the ticks can jump off them and onto you. If you have a pet use a tick repellant–they work!
Clothing. You can wear long sleeves, long pants tucked into your socks and a hat.
Avoid tick infested areas in the peak months (see graph above)
Walk in the center of the trail.

Interview with Joe Parrish

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is week I was privileged to interview Joe Parrish who is the Konnarock Program Director for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. This group uses volunteers help maintain the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Rockfish Gap in Virginia. Here is the podcast:

Interview with Joe Parrish of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy

If you’re interested in learning more or even volunteering, here is the link to the Konnarock Crew. Here is a link to the blog for the Konnarock Crew, they have good up to date photos the volunteer groups.

Interview with Kirk Sinclair

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Scott Akridge

Here is the link to the podcast for today:

Interview with Kirk Sinclair

Here are the show notes:

1) Thanks for the compliments — Dain, Kim, Tony and others on atbackpacking.com, plus the ones on iTunes which is at 16 comments. Glad you’ve enjoyed the podcasts.

2) Q – How much water do you carry with you, and how often do you fill up? Dain

A – My dog carried the water (2 liters) and we could hike this time for 2-4 hours with that amount. Water was plentiful, except for a few places and we’d refill every 2-5 hours but remember this will vary by weather and terrain

3) Changes for next trip -

a) Pudding recipe – go ahead and get large pudding but instead of making half at a time make it quarters. This should be plenty and will probably only carry one for every other day like this past trip.

b) Would like to have a water carrying system like the ULA packs, allows to carry water on shoulder straps.

c) Not planning to carry my dog Okie.

d) Have my daily mileage average be about 12-14 miles, of course this assumes terrain similar to what I hiked.

4) Interview with Kirk Sinclair who has hiked the Appalachian Trail three time, Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail and most recently the American Discovery Trail (ADT). He’s also hike other trails which he mentions in the podcast.

Kirk has hiked with Warren Doyle twice and gives a viewpoint on those hikes that folks might enjoy hearing if they’re considering a thru hike with Warren in 2015.

Kirk and his wife Cindy recently hiked the ADT with a mission to document the kindness they were shown and to speak to groups. Kirk has begun the process of writing a book to document these acts. If you have acts of kindness that you’ve been shown Kirk asks that you post those on his website. You can also keep track of him on Facebook and Youtube.

2012 AT Section Hike Journal #26 (5/25/2012)

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is day 26 of my 2012 AT Section Hike. Hiked from Limestone Spring Shelter to my finishing point at Salisbury, Connecticut. Below is the link to the podcast.

2012 AT Sect Hike Day 26

Finishing Point–woohoo!!

2012 AT Section Hike Journal #25 (5/24/2012)

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is day 25 of my 2012 AT Section Hike. Hiked from Pine Swamp Brook Shelter to Limestone Spring Shelter.

2012 AT Sect Hike Day 25

View of racetrack below on right.

Beautiful flowers before we began a road walk.

View above the Hydroelectric Plant, this is Great Falls.

Beautiful view in this short field walk.

2012 AT Section Hike Journal #24 (5/23/2012)

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is day 24 of my 2012 AT Section Hike. Hiked from 2 miles north of Connecticut 341 to Pine Swamp Brook Shelter. Below is the link to the podcast.

2012 AT Sect Hike Day 24

This is where we camped the previous night, it’s a good site but still had a slope to it which caused me to slip a little.

This was a rock outcropping shortly before St. Johns Ledges.

Lots of beautiful creeks and rivers on this trip.

2012 AT Section Hike Journal #23 (5/22/2012)

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is day 23 of my 2012 AT Section Hike. This section we hiked from Wiley Shelter to about 2 miles north of Connecticut 341 where we camped. Below is the link to the podcast.

2012 AT Sect Hike Day 23

Woohoo, we’re in CT

Ten Mile River, a very broad river.

Beautiful view even on an overcast day.

Okie resting outside of the IGA (ie. grocery store) in Kent, CT while I go to pick up a maildrop.

2012 AT Section Hike Journal #22 (5/21/2012)

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is day 22 of my 2012 AT Section Hike. Here is the podcast. Began this day at Morgan Stewart and hiked to Wiley Shelter. Jim hiked with me again today. Below is the link to the podcast.

2012 AT Sect Hike Day 22

That’s Kirk Sinclair sitting in the Morgan Stewart Shelter and as you can see Okie is on her favorite place—the picnic table.

I’m not sure what Jim is doing here but he’s smiling.

Nice photo of Okie and Jim crossing this beautiful river.

Having lunch with Kirk, his wife and daughter along with Jim and I. We played leapfrog with them for several times this day.

There was a storm blowing in so we cut our lunch short. This is Nuclear Lake, don’t ask me how they got that name. It’s another beautiful mountain lake.

We crossed some open fields and got this photo.

This walkway went for 0.4 miles to the train stop.

Jim and Okie at the trail stop. This is called the Appalachian Trail RR Station. The train stops here on the weekends.

Okie and me at the train stop. This is where we said goodbye to Jim–it was good to see Jim and we had a good hike together.

2012 AT Section Hike Journal #21 (5/20/2012)

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is day 21 of my 2012 AT Section Hike. This day Jim, trailname Cosimo, and I began at the RPH shelter and Okie and I hiked to the Morgan Stewart Shelter. Jim took the opportunity to move his car closer to where he’d get off the trail on Monday afternoon. Below is the link to the podcast.

2012 AT Sect Hike Day 21

Jim inside the RPH Shelter, this is where we stayed on Saturday night. One of the few shelters you can get delivery, as in pizza.

There was a scout group who stayed also, it’s great to see the young people and parents out experiencing nature.

This is what the shelter looks like as you approach it from the trail. The opposite side is open with a nice covered patio.

Here are the scouts cooking breakfast.

Pumping the water, they don’t have these down south on the AT.

Spider web that looked very cool in the morning light. Shortly before this I saw several deer and a hawk about 150 feet away.

Most of the views in NY weren’t developed like this area, although this area is not very developed.

I sat on a rock and enjoyed this view through the trees.

Hornets nest in the tree, it wasn’t being used though.

Kirk Sinclair and his wife who were finishing a 12 month hike (yes 12 months) of the American Discovery Trail (ADT).

The above photo is of Kirk Sinclair and his wife (read caption above), they hiked with a message. The message they have is one of kindness, yes they hiked across the United States sharing a message of “kindness”. Here a photo of me on hikingHumanitarian website.

2012 AT Section Hike Journal #20 (5/19/2012)

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is day 20 of my 2012 AT Section Hike. Began this Day waking up at the Dennytown campground, since I didn’t have much water we just packed-up and walked a short distance to the parking lot where they have a water spigot to fix breakfast and we were scheduled to meet a hiking buddy from 2009. We hiked together to RPH Shelter, beautiful day to be alive in a place like this.

2012 AT Sect Hike Day 20

This is where we started our day, campground at Dennytown Road. This was rowdy on Friday night but the folks were not doing any dangerous activities. It was clean and would stay there again but would prefer a weeknight.

Millertime is on right and is amazing hiker with high miles and Jim (trailname Cosimo). I hiked with Jim on my section hike in 2009 and he met me this morning at the parking lot on Dennytown Road. We hiked together on Saturday and Monday. Jim moved his car on Sunday to be closer to his finishing point.

One of the best thing about hiking on the AT is the great folks you meet. This man and the crew he works with are installing rock steps, it takes a lot of time to do but will last a very long time. Thank you to these and all the trail workers.

This man was also a part of the trail crew.

This was just one of many great views I had today of the water. I love the moss and the reflection.

A gorgeous mountain lake, notice the swimming area which had a lifeguard stand.

Jim heading up the hill.

Notice the beautiful grass near the mountaintop. It’s reminiscent of the balds in the southern appalachians.

Made it to the top, short break and we’re back at it.

Another view from the top.

2012 AT Section Hike Journal #19 (5/18/2012)

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is day 19 of my 2012 AT Section Hike. We started on 5/19 (Friday), Bruce dropped us off on the trail, which a short walk to the Hudson River where we crossed the bridge. We hiked to a campground at Dennytown Road where we has a nice night although a little noisy.

2012 AT Sect Hike Day 19

Bruce sitting outside his house with Okie. See the dog treats?

Preparing to cross the Hudson River.

Crossing a boggy area, we stopped at the convenience store and I had a Mountain Dew.

Small clear stream.

2012 AT Section Hike Journal #17 & 18 (5/16 – 5/17 2012)

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Scott Akridge

This is days 17 and 18 of my 2012 AT Section Hike. Hiked from Wildcat Shelter to Fingerboard Shelter where we slept in the shelter on 5/16. Hiked from Fingerboard Shelter to Ft. Montgomery where we stayed with trail angels Bruce and Pauline on 5/17.

2012 AT Sect Hike Day 17 and 18