Hiking in nature........

So I'm exploring the idea of how I want to hike this upcoming season. In regards to my feet, and if I wear something on my feet. In my immediate area we have many opportunities for hiking. County, city, state, federal properties. What I'm finding however is many places lay small crushed rock as a top layer. It gets wet here in winter typically so I think they do this to help with drainage so the trails are not constantly drenched.

For me this crushed small rock is not that friendly to walk on bare foot. It is something that I can walk on, but it is very slow. I don't hike often enough to really condition my soles for this type of surface. If I go into the mountains this is less of a issue. As the mountain forest service trails are mostly dirt. I live on the coast, and gravel top layers on the trails seem to be the norm.

So I'm thinking it maybe good to have something for my feet to wear for hiking when needed. Currently I have a vibram five finger treksport mens in black size 43. My original pair were sent back on a warranty exchange. That took a long time. I have the new pair now. Today I went on a short hike to try the treksport again, and to scout out some trail surfaces. It turns out now that I am a more experienced bare footer I really don't like the treksports. So since I have only worn them once which was today my plan is to sell them. They are of course brand new, and I have cleaned the dirt out of soles as much as possible. When I'm ready to sell them someone will get a nice deal.

So now I need to figure out what will be my trail footwear when I want to wear something. I could use my VFF sprints. I really like those a lot, and don't wear them much. I have paper feet that I don't use too much which I like as well. My next hike will be in the paper feet to see how hiking in them is. I need to determine if they have enough sole. It is possible these will be too thin a sole. We will see. I'm not interested in the Barefoot Ted Luna sandals. As I feel he has very over priced products. Plus I hate the lace between the toes. I'm interested in the nice thin 4mm unshoes, but they have lace between toes. Right now I'm leaning toward the invisible shoe kit to build your own which would be a 4mm sole. I like this option cause the sole is 4mm, and I can customize the lace to not be between the toes. I also much prefer the top of my feet to be exposed in the sandal style, but have a little protection on bottom to hike faster. This will also allow me to not constantly have my eyes in the dirt looking at where my feet are stepping. Another problem I have with bare foot hiking constantly looking at where you are stepping. I prefer to look up, and scan the area with my eyes as I hike.

So I need to make a final decision on the hiking footwear to purchase. Test them out. Once I am satisfied I can then sell the treksports. So I guess I should get on top of this, and get going. The spring is coming, and it will be a good time to sell my treksports. Maybe I should order the invisible shoe kit sooner rather then later.......