Backpacking in “maximalist” shoes? (ie.Hoka One One)

I would never go out an an extended trip with new footware :)

Best to check 'em out on a day hike…

Randy, your expectation of traction may be different than mine… not exactly a quantitative term, eh?

But I am quite sure they do not have as good traction as my vibrum soled boots or my sticky rubber approach shoes…

Still, if they fit a person's feet who has bad knees or lower back or just sore feet from typical hiking shoes… I can highly recommend trying the Hokas… for on trail.

Billy

"I would never go out an an extended trip with new footware :) "

It wasn't the Hoka's first time out. I've used them on several training hikes and several thousand feet up and down steep stuff in the desert in the last couple weeks…but with no side-hilling. With other shoes, my desert training hills have always been adequate for evaluating purposes. In other words, if they worked there with a loaded pack, they never failed to work just as well in the mountains. The Hokas were an exception…..

Wow… that's odd, Randy. No wonder you were so surprised.

Hope you got them from REI :)
or someplace else that will take them back…

or perhaps you will find a use for them on-trail.

Billy

I love Hoka's for trail running. I like them for work on concrete floors. They work well for hiking on trails, but I don't care for them for off trail hiking or backpacking. For those activities, I prefer LaSportia Raptors.

Ed,
Could you elaborate on why you prefer other shoes for off trail? Is it the height of them? Traction?
Thanks for any thoughts.

Sage to Summit Ultralight Mountain Gear (cool place!!!) in Bishop, CA responded to a comment I made on their YouTube channel about the Hokas for off-trail use. Here's the reply:

Randy, I had much the same experience as you in a pair of Altra Olympus. The Lone Peak 1.5s have been great for me, but the stack height of the Olympus caused too much lateral movement when side-hilling and I wound up binning them after simple trail use resulted in a flare-up of an old knee injury that hadn't bothered me in years. I am done with maximalist shoes for trail and off trail use.

Thanks Randy and Stuart, I think you just answered my question.

I've put about a 120 trail miles on my Stinson lites (road model). Half of that distance trail running the other with a lighter backpack or fastpack and about 10 miles of that off trail. My legs and feet love them. I've worn xtalons and various roclites for a few years now and still do at times, but these shoes just want to hike fast and turn over into a trot or run on their own. Down hills are blast, easy on the sole and knees. And daily mileage above 20 came with much less foot fatigue. On hardpacked trails they absolutely eat up pebbles and small golf-ball rocks with great stability and foot protection. The bigger surface area of the soles give acceptable traction even in the road model I have. Size 11 are 12.10 oz (343g)/shoe.

They came with two insoles. A scuplted 6 mm thick insole and flat 3mm sole.

With the flatter insole I get the same ankle issue when the top of the heel cup's outer edge swings up against the bottom of my ankle bone. Feels a little tender morning after a longer day. This is only an issue for me when off trail or on tight single track where the wide soles(4.75 inches!) ride up on the edge of the trail/grass clumps/larger rocks, making the shoe rotate like its pronating inward forcing the stiff upper against my ankle.

The higher stack height came with a learning curve and I tested my ankles a few times with awkward yoga poses early on when I rolled the shoes over, catching my balance on my other leg before rolling the ankle enough to damage. A ten pound pack surely helped in both of those close calls. I now carry ankle tape in the fak.

Even though I have the road model the trail stinson lite has the same foam portions of the tread area. I've twice been off trail in pine forest and found thin pencil size 3/4" long twigs jammed up into those foam areas of the bottom. Never felt them poking through the insole tho.

Despite those compromises, I still look to these shoes first for most trips, and actually enjoy trail running and bigger backpacking mileage days now (every joint from shoulders to toes feels better).

The stiff-ish upper breaths awesome and looks like it will last much longer than inov8 styles mesh uppers. The sides of foam sole show a fair number of rock nicks, but overall they seem durable.

I'm going to order the mid-height (shorter stack) rapa nui model for a a more nimble and all-around trail shoe soon.

Kevin,
You wrote my post before I did! Right down to trying the Rapa Nui. If they are as comfortable as the Stinsons, they will probably be my shoes for the CT next summer. I have had some difficulty on some rocky side slopes, but Hokas have allowed me to return to high mileage days. I do backpack in a pair that are a half size larger than what I run in. I am sure that they will not work for everyone, but my joints love me again.

I've been out in the Altra Olympus max shoe, and while they provide nice cushioning and are great on all but really rocky trails, I absolutely hate them on really rocky terrain and off trail hiking.

As David C. wrote above:

"A friend, who is quite the accomplished ultra runner but not the most biomechanically gifted (read: coordinated), wore a pair of Hokas on a week long backpack this summer. The rigidity of the sole caused mild problems with heel blisters. Ironically heel fit with Hokas ends up being extremely important, not unlike mountain boots. On our one 100% off trail day my Hoka-clad friend struggled mightly because of the shoes. Even the most aggressive Hoka tread is still pretty tame, and this and the huge height make them ill suited to loose dirt and steep grass sidehilling. The way the sole extends so far beyond your foot makes edging on anything not totally secure quite a joke. Frictional traction smearing on rock on on developed trails is good, but anywhere else and Hokas are out of their element."

Steep grass side-hilling is especially a killer with the stack height of these shoes.

I did do a week in the new Altra Lone Peak's and that shoe is much, much better for me for backpacking (but the material on the sole does not do well on solid rock faces/boulders).

Ito,
The traction is OK but the cushion makes them feel unstable on side hills.

Ed,
Thank for the additional info.
Considering I'm often on steep rocks or very steep trail I think I will pass for now.