Notice anything… different?

Or as my friends say: “Uh, what are those?”

Hiking sandals and tabi socks!

Yes, Hiking Sandals

Some may say I’m crazy, but for now I’m planning to do the majority of my hike in sandals. 

I’ve always had wide feet and and found that minimalist shoes work for me. Whenever I can, I wear sandals in my daily life and find close toed shoes restrictive, sweaty, and just not comfortable after a full day of wear. 

I’ve been sporting these Bedrock Cairn EVO sandals since summertime and have put in quite a few miles to break them in. These will be the shoes I start with on the Appalachian trail, should all go well until then!

Why Bedrocks?

(Not sponsored)

One of the reasons I like the Bedrock brand is because of their Re-Sole repair program where you can send back sandals that have worn through the tread to get them re-soled, preserving the worn-in footbed for optimal comfort. Since these have taken quite a bit to break in, I’m happy to have the re-sole program as an option to refresh the shoes without losing all the hard-earned miles to get to a comfortable fit again. 

While these were my first pair of Bedrocks,  I have been a sandal hiker for many years. My first hiking sandals were a too-large pair of Keen’s that always got small rocks and sticks stuck inside. I didn’t quit wearing sandals just because of that, no no, I was dedicated to finding sandals that fit my trail needs and gave freedom to my feet at the same time!

Basically these were my first hiking sandals. So chunky. So easy to get rocks stuck in them.

I switched from Keen’s to Teva’s soon after, loving the open-toe-ness for most of the time, and only some of the time experiencing the dreaded in-between-the-toe-stabbing from random sticks being kicked on trail. 

These were my favorite everything shoe for YEARS. Now that I’m converted to barefoot/minimalist shoes, these feel so heavy and chunky to me!

I used Teva sandals as my hiking shoe of choice for years until I started down the barefoot shoe rabbit hole. Now, most of my shoes are barefoot style, but I still prefer a sandal to most of my close-toed shoes. 

What can I say? My toes like to breathe. 

Bedrocks fit the bill for me of being a sturdy, Vibram-soled hiking sandal with minimalist characteristics, a wide footbed, adjustability, and a great company ethos. I meant to just try them out for a few weeks to compare them to some other hiking sandal brands, but with the time it took to break them in, they ended up becoming my go-to shoe when I hit the trail.

(Since I’m NOT sponsored by the Bedrock brand and probably never will be, I would still love to try other hiking sandal brands like Luna sandals, and I have several pairs of extra-minimalist Xero “hiking” sandals that I intend to use as back-ups/road shoes.)

Now on to the questions I frequently get from friends, family, and passers-by who see my toes peeking out on the trail.

Don’t Your Toes Get Cold?

No. 

The other week I went on a snowy, sub-zero day hike with my tabi socks (the ones with a split between the big toe and all the rest) and my trusty Bedrock sandals, and when my toes got wet, I freaked a little. I started worrying about the wet socks freezing to my toes and getting frostbite. So what did I do?

I took my socks off and continued on my hike.

My toes got a little dirty, a little snowy, and a little pink, but nothing bad happened. I remain convinced that the socks (or wet shoes) staying frozen on my toes would have been so much worse than just the cold air. 

Snowy toes, happy toes. No frostbite today.

On cold (sub-freezing) but dry days, I do wear my tabi socks with my sandals on my hikes. However, my feet are typically the least of my concern as my dripping nose in the cold air seems to take up most of my attention. 

What About Ankle Support?

I’m not a believer in ankle support in shoes. Nor are most hikers nowadays, with trail runners (no ankle support) being the #1 choice of hiking shoe for 80% of hikers in the 2023 Appalachian Trail survey.

Apparently there hasn’t been any real research done on the subject of ankle support in hiking boots, but that also means there’s really no evidence to suggest ankle boots are better (or worse) than any other shoe when it comes to your ankles. 

Personally, when I wear hiking boots or other thick-soled hiking shoes (especially in squishy trail runners), I’m unable to feel the ground beneath my feet and find myself tripping or mis-stepping more often than I would with my thinner-soled hiking sandals. I actually did test “barefoot hiking” ankle boots last year and they just didn’t work for me, nor did the “ankle support” do anything for my sense of ankle stability.

When I wear my sandals, I step carefully and mindfully and reduce my chance of injury by knowing what’s under my feet and simply paying better attention to my feet. To me, that’s the best kind of ankle support to have. 

Blisters?

I purposefully bought my Bedrocks earlier in the summer to break them in and get blisters out of the way as much as I could by acclimating my feet to these shoes’ unique design. And I did get blisters in the summer. Oh boy did I get blisters. And I probably will experience them again on the AT. But hopefully I’ve mitigated them a bit by specifically breaking in these shoes and by minimizing my foot’s contact area with shoes by wearing such a minimalist design!

A common cause of blisters is moisture and friction. Guess what sandals are great at? Being the only “true” waterproof shoe! Rather, they dry quickly, and so do your feet. I have always loved hiking sandals in settings like the beach because I can wade straight into the water and then keep on hiking with no concerns about having swampy feet or soggy toes leading to blisters later.

Hiking “barefoot” (in sandals) in the rain is peak hiking to me. Get those toes wet! 

Plus, the minimal amount of material means less friction points between your foot and the shoe, meaning less ways to get blisters.

For shoe-wearers: wearing full toe-socks is also supposed to be a good way to reduce blisters in the wet weather by keeping each toe insulated from the others and reducing friction on the softened wet skin. I’m not sure about that one, but I’d be willing to try it! I still prefer my toes out to dry naturally and not bother with socks unless it’s very cold and dry weather. 

Which socks do you hate more, the tabi socks or the full toe socks? 😀

Foot Security?

I’ve heard from plenty of other hikers that they don’t like hiking in sandals because their feet slide around too much and they don’t feel secure in sandals. 
Totally fair complaint! 

I guess you could just say I’m used to it. After years of hiking sandals being my preferred footwear, “proper footwear” be damned, I am confident on slippery, slimy, dusty, loose, wobbly, gravely, and slick surfaces in my hiking sandals. I don’t have any pictures to prove it, but I have done some pretty sketchy scrambles in my hiking sandals and have survived, nay, thrived!

As for stubbing toes? 

I purposely selected a size of size of sandal that gives me a bit of space in front of my toes so if I kick something by accident, it hits the shoe, not the toes. So far, so good! I have yet to seriously stub or break a toe in my sandal wearing days. 

What’s Your Preference?

Most people hike in trail runners, which definitely offer a lot of comfort and protection. I may have to try them out on the AT one of these days soon, but for now I am happy to be a sandal hiker.

“Hike your own hike” – I welcome all comments and I’m sure there will be some experienced folks out there upset at my lack of “proper footwear”, but hopefully no one finds my toes so offensive as to get angry online at me. Let me know your thoughts below!