Long distance thru hikes and feet growth / swelling

Hi Diane

> It is an area that no one has studied, and you can theorize all you want, but
> without data we are all just blowing smoke.
Believe it or not, I actually agree entirely with you (and Jennifer in many ways).
Except that we do have a lot of data that walkers' feet do grow after (during) a long thru-hike. Even your own and my own.

I have no idea what the mechanism is; I am just pushing for the issue to be examined more closely, starting with the data rather than the textbook.
If it is not bone growth, what is it?

> Abdominal waistlines can stretch far more.
Ahhh – that was meant to be a bit of humour. Sorry if that was not clear. Blame it on cultural differences.

> most of the really world-shattering changes happened before the elaboration of the
> scientific method.
We could have a long and fascinating discussion over this, with me citing many many examples of quite recent changes, but that would be a thread drift to the other side of the planet. Let's just say there is plenty of room for more change.

I am sure this could be the subject of several grant proposals and very useful research projects. It's a pity that the change does not seem reversible: all test subjects are once-only cases. That makes the research more difficult. It would be nice if the research happened though.

Cheers

Well, Charley, that is a valid point, that folks may think their feet grow, when really the shoes were too small to allow the activity to take place.

I've done more backpacking in the last 5 years (about 1800 trail miles, 300-400 per year) than I did previously. During that time, my hiking shoe size has gone from 11 4E to 11.5 4E to 12 4E. My shoe size had not changed for 40 years until this recent period of more trail walking. By "hiking shoe size" I mean shoes worn with thin synthetic or merino sock liners and Darn Tough wool hiking socks. My "street shoe size" has gone from 10.5 4E to 11.5 4E. This change has been gradual but relentless. The longest on-trail period during these 5 years was a 3-week AT section, and the next longest are a number of 8-10 day backpack trips and a couple 2-week trekking trips. What puzzles me the most is how/why my feet are longer. I can understand muscle growth in response to use, but I don't perceive any flattening of the arch, which would seem to be the way that feet would/could get longer. YMMV. Mysteries of the trail, I guess. I have talked to people who claim they went up 3 sizes on a long thru hike, but I've always thought that had to be an exaggeration.

With age, everything* gets bigger, hairier, and closer to the ground.

*(below your scalp)

"I've done more backpacking in the last 5 years (about 1800 trail miles, 300-400 per year) than I did previously. During that time, my hiking shoe size has gone from 11 4E to 11.5 4E to 12 4E. My shoe size had not changed for 40 years until this recent period of more trail walking."

I'm thinking this maybe happened to me.

Size 12 used to fit fine. I used a pair of boots a year ago and no blisters or anything. Now, smallest 3 toes get sore places and nails discolored. Maybe I need size 12.5.

500 miles per year in last 10 years. 10 miles/day max.

This last year I did a little more, 560 miles, 13.5 miles/day for one trip

All I started thinking about while reading this was this comic

http://xkcd.com/793/

http://xkcd.com/120/

My brother joined the Army a year after I did. We went to the same place, FT Leonard Wood MO, we were even in the same basic training company. The Drill Instructors still remembered me, much to his consternation. He has skinnier calves than I do, although we grew up doing pretty much the same thing, hiking, hunting, fishing, walking back and forth to school, two miles, each way, up hill, in the blowing snow…but I digress. He got flat feet in basic training and has been battling foot problems ever since. I never had any problems with my feet, although I did notice that my feet grew in size from a size 9 to 10. I'm now wearing a size 11 or 11.5 EE boots. Maybe my feet didn't "grow", but they certainly changed over the years.