Day: 60, 6/19/2013: Zero Day

0.0 miles hiked, Took a zero day to buy food, rest, eat out and get supplies at the outfitter. Ended up buying some new boots which I will explain in another email. This picture shows the field I hiked through tomorrow with plenty of cows.

New boots + High miles = ??????

The answer is blisters!  However the story is more complicated than that.

The tread on my first set of boots was starting to go after 600 miles And I  occasionally slipped even on dry stuff. I ordered new boots and decided get a 9.5 wide instead of a 9 1/2 regular and had them shipped to Pearisburg Virginia.

I wore the new boots for almost 100 miles and started getting blisters on my big toe and the toe next to my little toe on both feet. I assumed this was just part of breaking in the new boots.

In Daleville Virginia, I thought the old insoles I put in my new boots might be causing the blisters.   So I bought a new pair of insoles and had them put in the boots.

Right before I paid, I decided to have my feet measured. Once he measured my feet, it turns out that I have a 10 1/2 size foot instead of 9.5 foot. My feet have increased a whole size which is  typical for the Appalachian Trail.

So I bought another pair of boots in the correct size, and have not had problems my feet since. My blisters seem to be healing daily and I feel much better hiking.