Barefoot Hikes are my "Extreme Sport"

Those who know me, know that I am NOT an extreme guy;

I don't like SPEED.

I don't like HEIGHTS.

Therefore I'm NOT an extreme sports guy either - clearly.

Yet I'm totally fine in an airplane - minus the pressure in the ears 🤷

You won't see me rock climbing, bungee jumping or race car driving....

You WILL however, find me VERY happy to be barefoot in the woods. 🙂

Today, mid April as I write this, was absolute PRIME barefoot hiking weather. A light rain after a heavy morning of rain. Warm, calm air after lunch. I was anxious to get into the woods, get the shoes off and just wander.

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It came to mind in my travels, how barefoot hiking is my "extreme sport". I say that because I get a similar reaction from (some) people as an extreme athlete might. That "you're crazy!" kind of reaction. Which got me thinking how UPSIDE DOWN our North American modern day thinking is. What I enjoy doing is natural. Humans spent more time OUT OF SHOES than in them over our existence. Yet the time humans have spent jumping from airplanes, flying fighter jets, bungee jumping, race car driving etc is a mere SPECK of time in human existence. Meanwhile, all the above get similar reactions from some people. Interesting eh?

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My total travel distance today was 5.5km. 4.5km of that was in the woods. Here's my route today:

See the "indent" of my path in the middle of this route? That's where I was coming back DOWN the hillside and saw a hawk nearly snag something (I think maybe a rabbit because I saw a white tuft of fur as it fell back to the ground, just after nearly being scooped up). The hawk swooped up into a nearby tree on the hill, contemplating another shot most likely. I decided to wind back up the hill to either get nearer to the hawk to identify it OR to get a topside view (possibly) of it's attempted prey. I was enjoying my hike so much that I was not unhappy to head back up.

Unfortunately, I could see neither up there. You can see my path on the left side of this route as I worked my way back toward the trail entrance as I travelled the top of the hill again. While I was up there, I'm pretty sure I heard a great horned owl somewhere not far away. I tried to get my Merlin app out in time to be sure, but the owl must've sensed it. All good in my books. It was very cool and lucky to hear it, and it'll be like a great legendary fishing story I guess. 😂

The hike felt amazing and I EASILY could've kept going. However, Thursday afternoons I only have a few hours before I need to be back at the studio and I was hoping to enjoy a tea with my book on the porch before then.

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I know what you're thinking; Wasn't it muddy today with all the rain? YOU BET! That's another updside down thinking of ours today; this whole concept of getting dirty has been nearly completely LOST on us. It comes off you know?

The ground was not always mud. At times it's smoothed down, and at other times it's a bit more slick and muddy. I wasn't purposely trudging through heaps of mud (though not opposed to that) by any means, but that sense of freedom and that "it doesn't matter" feeling is something many of us have forgotten after childhood. Personally, I find that sad.

Let me share some random facts with you about my barefoot hikes...

I'm now writing this part a few weeks later, and there have been a few more barefoot hikes since. It never gets old, let me tell ya! Here's a downhill switchback I was on last hike. As you can see, there are smooth sections along the way.

1. I bring my light hiking backpack to carry my shoes, socks and towel. I bring a little hand towel so that afterwards, I can rinse my feet in the "creek" that's there right now at this time of year, running through the woods and dry my feet before putting my shoes and socks back on. Also along the way, at any time, I can wipe my feet on "Mother Nature's carpet" (i.e. moss) that's along the trail and big stones everywhere, if I feel the need.

   
   

   

   This is what I call, "Never-There-Creek". Just outside the left of this pic is where I rinse my feet after my barefoot hikes the past few weeks.

2. I bring my little notebook and pen that fit in my pocket. I'll stop at various points to write a little poem, jot down some thoughts or even something interesting I saw.

   
   

3. There's a sense of simplicity and freedom that comes from inside me on these barefoot hikes. Not only feeling the earth at my feet, but ability to be doing everything in it's simplest form; no technology, no distraction, no fancy equipment. Just me and the most basic things.

   
   

4. "Getting Dirty" is OKAY! My last hike mid-week last week was another potentially muddy one, as we've had plenty of rain lately. In the woods, it sprinkled a bit at one point, but honestly it wasn't very dirty at all. The bottom of my feet were dirty of course, but you wouldn't have known I had just hiked 4-4.5km barefoot otherwise. What is our aversion to "getting dirty" today? One can argue it HELPS build our immune system by getting dirty (eg: gardening, yard work etc). But why else would we abstain from it? Maybe we don't want to get certain clothes dirty? Well then - don't wear "those" clothes somewhere they may. Again, another positive about barefoot hikes; My shoes look the same going out as when they came in. 😉

   
   

   

   This was half way through my hike. Even after plenty of rain the night and morning before, this was it. Disappointing I know. 🤣

   
   

5. It doesn't hurt like most people think it does. Remember, I've been doing barefoot activities like hikes for 15-years now. Over time, your feet become more supple and mobile (like our hands). Those 33 joints in each foot and designed to BE MOBILE. Once you begin to allow your feet (their joints and muscles) move the way they were naturally designed to, there's a different capability of tolerating different pressures on the foot. In addition to that, when we go barefoot we're allowing the approximately 200,000 nerve endings (per foot!) to "fire up" and actually FEEL things. This then sends signals throughout the entire body. This means, we're also MORE AWARE of what's on the ground, so we're reacting differently and more quickly to the various surfaces beneath our feet. Granted, there may be the odd time you do hit something that makes you go "Oooo", but they're few and far between.

   
   

6. This has been a GRADUAL progression over years, that's unfolded naturally. I mentioned in a previous barefoot post that I would never tell someone they "should" or "have to" go barefoot. To each their own! However, when someone is interested and/or curious, I remind them that it's VERY important to build up slowly. I did not decide one day to start hiking 4-5km barefoot in the woods. I started with 50-100m of grass. That was back in 2009. 15-years later, I've only just a couple years ago started to increase distances (not that I was stressing/pushing to make it happen more quickly). I've just let things evolve naturally. My days in the past handful of years are also spent with WAY MORE time out of shoes or in minimalist shoes now than EVER before, which also helps. And there's still plenty of room to improve the ability of my feet.

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What I don't understand is when someone completely dismisses it (for lack of a better term) when they know little to nothing about the experience or even considered it. Do I think one day we'll go back to barefoot at all times like our ancestors. No. Especially with so many man-made surfaces now. We need to be shod (in shoes) at times (including practicing and playing sports). However, we can certainly live with a balance of shod and barefoot, without question. Even if you just spend time barefoot on your own lawn or in your own home - great! It's something. There's even different tools you can utilize IN your home to help mobilize your feet (we can save that for a future post).

To me, a person can be intrigued or even think something is COOL, but still not have the desire to experience that thing themselves. For example:

🪂I think parachuting is SO COOL! Would I ever do it? HELL NO!

🏎I think race car drivers are incredible athletes (especially after years ago learning the conditioning routines they do to stay FIT for driving at those speeds and G-forces!).

Would you ever catch me in a race car flying around a track?? HELL NO!! Bumper cars is my speed.

It comes down to the capacity for each and every one of us to respect what others CHOOSE to do, ESPECIALLY when it makes them HAPPY!!!! And if anything, enourage it to happen MORE!

And on that note, I feel that we DESPERATELY need to be seeking things that make us HAPPY much more frequently in our days and weeks, as modern North American adults.

If wandering through dirt, mud, rocks, moss, grass etc barefoot is a source of that HAPPINESS... ENJOY I say!