The sandal debate comes up here every so often. There are definitely
opinions on both sides and probably nothing posted here will change anyone
mindset. Unless things have changed too much in the way of rules and reg.'s
at Philmont, in the past few years sandals have been frowned on, most
especially in the cooking area where closed toe footwear has been required.
I wear sandals about 75% of the year and being self employed makes it easier
for me to dress the way I want to with little repercussions on a daily
basis; for me "-"dress down Friday" is a 7 day a week affair! That being
said, I choose to wear sandals as my camp shoe of choice and have been doing
so for many years, even at Philmont. I think Rob makes a good point in that
those that are used to wearing footwear like this may be more used to being
careful. The only thing I ever noticed at Philmont or other hikes in the dry
mountain air is that my heals have a tendency to get a little dried out and
callused in the low humidity, but otherwise I have had not injuries.
The official attitude on sandals at Philmont is kind of like the Bivy tent
issue or the issue of purifying all unknown water sources and a few others.
They figure you pay your fees, you train, and you get to go on a great trek,
the last thing they want is for anyone to come off the trail for an injury
or illness. The less folks that come visit the health lodge the better. I
did one trek with mostly almost 18 year old kids and several of them wore
sandals in camp. They were older, more serious campers and we had no
problems with kids running around camp not looking where they were going and
injuring their feet. I did another trek where the crew was mostly
inexperienced 14-16 year olds and I encouraged them to use tennis shoes or
moccasins in camp and they all did. It was a maturity issue. Another good
choice is a light weigh running or cross training shoe which can often be
found on sale at Outlet mall shoe stores. Seems the styles and fashions for
runners change like the 4 seasons!
The most important thing is that everyone should have some kind of camp
shoe. These offer not only a well deserved rest to your feet but help with
LNT guidelines on keeping the wear and tear to a minimum in the campsite.
Heavy cleated Vibram soles do quite a bit of damage to the campsites over
the course of the trekking season. Also consider what you will wear with
your camp shoes. Socks of some kind are essential and most welcome at dusk
as the temperature falls. I personally like the polar fleece Acorn socks,
light weight and easy to wash and dry as necessary and if you are a cold
sleeper or your bag isn't warm enough could keep your feet warm at night!
YOF
Chris in Houston
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Received on Fri May 16 10:44:28 2003
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