It’s lucky that fashion isn’t a key requirement for stepping out on the trail. We’re a flock of women past the half-century, as a rule we don’t have time for distractions like designer brands. Anyone else remember when it wasn’t uncommon to find a good brand in the op shop and then stitch the label onto a home-sewn outfit? On the first hike we took together with the Flamingo Flock, I wore a cotton T-shirt, yoga pants, cotton socks, and runners. We went for a hike. I got a bit sweaty. Nothing bad happened!I can confidently say that had we never started learning about merino wool and technical fabrics we would probably still be happily hiking. We’d just smell a bit worse than we’d like but we could still do it. Yep, do not let concerns about hiking fashions deter you from stepping out on the trail!
To hike with The Flamingo Flock you don’t need to be fast, fit, or fashionable.
You just need to be prepared to have fun!
That said, we have become rather knowledgeable about outdoor gear and clothing. For example, without Vibram soles entering my life there definitely would have been a few more slips on steep trails. Now I’m astonished to realise that more than half the shoes I own bear the same outdoor brand name. What can I say? I found what seem to be the perfect shoe for my foot and then they multiplied in the wardrobe while I wasn’t looking. The same thing happened with the pants I wear in every season and the long-sleeved shirts for sun protection. But, the first time the concept of toe-socks was suggested to me, I nearly gagged.
The idea of individual pockets, like woollen mittens, separating each toe was, frankly, disgusting. Feet are not a favourite body part of mine. A decade sharing an office with the Chief Podiatrist meant that if I (unwisely) turned to see images on his computer, I saw a lot more feet, the unhappy kind of feet, than I ever wanted to see. Even with that intensive exposure therapy, I’m not a fan but I’m not overly sensitive about my feet. Still, I’m a creature of habits that have served me well over this lifetime. Habits like cleaning my teeth twice a day, washing my hands after using the bathroom, and wearing socks that are a single tube and keep all tootsies snuggled together.
It was because my toes liked to stay close to one another that I first came to grief. Without getting too detailed, the more I hiked, the more bandaids I needed. I suffered a couple of blisters early in the piece then realised a bandaid (or three) wrapped around my toes to keep them from touching one another was the answer. Prevention, as we all know, is far better than the cure. Add this proven solution to my ongoing effort to reduce waste and I had to go back and take another look at the (disgusting) toe-socks.
It was certainly weird threading each toe into the unfamiliar solo travel outfits. My little toes were most unprepared to play fair. But, within ten minutes of stepping out on the trail, I was converted. Toe-socks every Saturday, no more blisters!
Yes, the first pair were a huge success.
When Himself stepped out on the Camino Primitivo, a track in northern Spain that is unsullied by shoe stores, the worst thing that could happen to someone wearing an *enormous* size boot, happened. One day in a disastrous pair of boots and his feet were agonisingly blistered. The only solution? Trusty hiking sandals and toe-socks all the way to Santiago de Compostela.
Not that I’m a fashion queen but that seemed a step too far for me. But I have to be honest. I’m not innocent of such crime for at the end of each day on the Camino, Bones, Sammy, and I would gratefully peel off our toe-socks and boots, shower, and pull on socks and sandals and wear them in public. To bars. To restaurants. On tours of ancient cathedrals and cobblestoned laneways. People definitely noticed. I know they did because I saw their socks and sandal combinations too. More than a merino shirt or zip-off hiking pants, socks and sandals symbolise a pilgrim at rest.
Ah. Those were the days.
All well and good, I hear you say, but why do we need to hear you wax lyrical about your feet? Fair question! It’s long been a hot topic both within the Flamingo Flock and in conversations with other women who are curious about whether they, too, could possibly go on a hike.
As Bones explains, you don’t need to be fast, fashionable or fit. But those things are not, like, absent. They really are part of it. Because you’ve got to have the right gear to do it comfortably.
The only thing that matters to wear are socks you’re comfortable with and a decent pair of shoes that fit YOUR feet. Yes, it may be sandals! The ones that work for me may not be right for you. Test them. Nothing leads to injury, pain, and a miserable hike faster than shoes that don’t fit or rub or don’t have the support YOU need in them. You already know I’m not an expert in the field of feet but trust me on this one!
Suffice it to say, you’ve really got to look after your feet to be hike like a flamingo. Will toe-socks and sandals become a popular trend outside of hiking circles? I’ll leave the idea with you. It only takes one confident light to spark a trend after all.
PS. I can only talk about my own experience with shoes, socks and sandals. I’m still not an expert and have no intention of becoming one! There are some incredible solutions out there and one will work for YOUR feet. For example, see this post by Helen, aka The Walking Traveller, about barefoot shoes. See? There’s a lot of fun to be had in the quest for the right shoe for your foot!