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Pilgrim Topics Related to all Routes
🥾 Equipment and Clothes
Senior Walking the Portuguese Coastal Route in the Rain: Advice Needed
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[QUOTE="BikeHikeChai, post: 1206586, member: 112374"] Excellent question and I’m glad to see some excellent replies. For what it’s worth (and at the risk of any duplication) here’s my tuppence worth. Footwear (or rather Foot Care) is pretty much the number 1 priority for a hiker (arguably only second to maintaining a good mental attitude). But footwear and fit is also intensely personal. It is very much the case that “one size does [B]not[/B] fit all” - metaphorically and physically. That said, if the weather is “warm” (or at least not cold) and wet, I prefer to be in sandals with no socks and shorts and just let stuff dry on the body. Shorts (Quechua from Decathlon) have been comfortable, quick drying and long lasting. Other more expensive options are available. The sandals in question for me are [B]Keen[/B] and very well worn in so no risk of rubbing. Also good for cold river crossings (not a Camino issue admittedly). The less you have to get wet the easier life is. However when it’s cold I go to another level. I walked the Camino Portugués Coastal route this year (8th-22nd October 2023). The first half was warm the second wet. I used the same high end La Sportiva boots that I’d used in Nepal earlier in the year because a) I already had them b) they had a few hundred km of use without any issues and c) I could trust them to do the job through a wide range of temperatures (it was from +30° to -10° in Nepal). These were married with high quality inner soles (SIDAS high arch running ones) and a generous selection of high percentage merino socks. And then these were laced up once per day with meticulous care. Overkill for a Camino? Certainly. But amongst my acquaintances over the two weeks I saw some horrendous blisters (that I cannot now unsee) while I didn’t have uncomfortable feet for an instant. Most people I met were battling awful foot problems. Most people wore either poor quality footwear or a poor fit or had failed to appreciate that it’s the entire package that must be right. Including foot hygiene and careful nail clipping. I can’t speak highly enough of the use (from top to toe in fact) of merino layers including socks. When (speaking as another older man) I get up in the night to go to the bathroom, I used the opportunity to change the newspaper in my boots in the rare event they got damp (just from the volume of water flowing down my bare legs - I was going relatively light and did not bother with trousers let alone over trousers. I used shorts). Changing the newspaper 2-3 times in the night extracts significantly more water than just doing it once. If enough paper is available of course. For a lightweight alternative that I use for day walks a Salomon hiking shoe (Goretex in winter non-Goretex in summer) does the job. But also paired with proper inner soles and merino socks of the appropriate thickness for the time of year (feet being generally smaller in winter and larger in summer). I choose these principally for the speed lacing system in addition to comfort/fit/durability/value. Lastly an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of medical intervention after the event. People have reported favourably on the walking wool, but so far the combination of attention to foot care and a good fit have prevented me needing this. However I do carry Compeed to offer to others and wound management stuff in my first aid kit, including scissors for toenail maintenance. Buen Camino. [/QUOTE]
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