Hiking boots
or trail runners?Until about the turn of the century, a hiking shoe could only be of one type: a high upper boot with a rigid sole and a Gore-Tex membrane, laced really tight in order to “protect” the ankle. Things have changed, just like in any other field, and hikers have progressively adopted lower, lighter and somewhat more flexible hiking shoes. Today, a vast majority of hikers even go out in the mountains with trail runners. These shoes are even lighter, more flexible and their mesh cover lets the air flow in and out for maximum feet ventilation. In fact they’re very close to a classic running shoe, only with reinforced patches around the areas that receive the more stress, and a more aggressive outsole to give correct grip on technical terrains. Some would never go back to hiking boots, others remain faithful to their old-timers…
So which are best for the PCT?
On most of the blogs or websites dedicated to the PCT (and thru-hikes in general) you’ll read that trail runners are a must because of their light weight. That is what I opted for, just like a good 90% of hikers on the PCT I think, and it worked fine for me…
But that doesn’t mean it’ll work for you!
Together with the backpack, shoes are THE element in a hiker’s equipment where there are just no rules and where someone’s experience is not direcly transposable to someone else, so you’ll have to try as many models as it takes to forge your own opinion and find the shoe that works FOR YOU. And here trying means testing! Once you’ve selected a model that seems to work in the store, taking all the time you need and with the help of a (competent) sales person, it’s an absolute must that you get yourself and your new shoes out there and test them on the field, during long (ideally multiple-day) hikes with your full pack as if you were on the PCT (including all the gear you intend to carry plus water and food). A shoe doesn’t behave the same at all when worn on a flat ground with no pack or on a trail with a 26 lbs. pack on your back.
On the trail, your feet will be your most valuable asset.
So spending as long as needed to select the perfect pair of shoes really is a must. It’s not a waste of time: it’s an investment! High upper, low upper, rigid or less rigid, it’s yours to determine what works for YOUR feet and for YOUR hiking style. For as true as it is that the vast majority of thru-hikers use trail runners, I’ve also seen people hike the PCT in old-fashionned, all-leather, Gore-Tex, massive-toe-shell Meindl, despite everything tou can read on ultra-light hiking blogs and guess what… they were doing fine!
Still, here are a few elements you might wanna take into account if you’re not familiar with thru-hikes:
- Hiking 8 to 12 hours a day for 4 to 6 months is not the same as doing day-hikes, even long ones, even on very difficult terrain. Each and every one of the movements you make when you walk will be repeated in a way your body has never experienced before, and with each movement so will impacts and chafing. A shoe that works fine on alpine day- or weekend-hikes where the effort is usually shorter and more intense, may not work so well on a multiple-month hike. It’s technically easier, physically less explosive but the extended period of time makes it extremely demanding on the body, and overall a completely different ball game.
- On a thru-hike, the weight makes all the difference. Every gram counts, and shoes are no exception. The obvious advant
age of trail runners is their (very) 
light weight. For example the Asolo Stynger GTX (left), an old-timer I’ve hiked with for almost 2 decades – and to this day I consider it the best hiking shoe I’ve ever had – weighs about 1.200g in a size EU 40 (US 7) – which you could argue is still pretty light for a pair of hiking boots. In comparison, the Saucony Xodus ISO 2 (right), which I used during most of my PCT, weighs 720g in a size EU 43 (US 10), and it’s far from being the lightest in the category. What else… - Another element in favor of trail runners is how breathable they are. Really, they’re nothing more than your average running shoes with improved grip. The top part is made of mesh, just like a running shoe, which provides ideal ventilation for the feet. And that’s a critical element. If you’re only familiar with day-hikes this might seem secondary to you, because once the hike is over you get back home, take your shoes off, put them in the wind to dry-off, clean your feet etc. And on the next day if you’re going on another hike you’re gonna have a pair of clean, dry socks.
But not on a thru-hike.
On a thru-hike you’ll wear the same socks for days on end, you’ll wash them in mountain streams and lay them to dry on the top of your pack. You’re gonna sweat. Sometimes you’ll have to ford streams and you’ll get your feet soaking wet. If your shoes have a GTX membrane the water won’t be able to evaporate as quickly as in a mesh shoe, and your feet will macerate in that mix of water and sweat. That’s fine for a day or two, but after a few days of that regime, the skin of your feet will start peeling, your toe nails will get softer, maybe you’ll develop fungus and in the long run you’ll find out that your general feet’s health deteriorates. - It’s been believed for a long time that high upper shoes offered a better protection ankle protection in case of an accidental twist, if a rock rolled under your foot as you step on it for example. Nowadays on the contrary, many movement experts advise to wear low upper shoes to keep the ankle strong and train proprioception. It is even sometimes considered that, in the case of an important twisting, if the shoe were to firmly maintain the ankle, the imbalance would have to be absorbed by the next join in line. That’s the knee we’re talking about…
Here you can learn more about hiking boots vs. trail runners. The article is in French, I’m actively looking for a good equivalent in English.
Of course now, high upper shoes offer a better protection to the external malleolus, when your ankle hits a rock from the side. We’ve all experienced this at some point, we know it hurts and we know how annoying it is. If you opt for low upper shoes and this happens to you, all you can rely on then is self-control… - The obvious downside of trail runners is their (much lower) durability. Hiking boots are usually very robust and made to last, and most of the people I’ve seen using them on the PCT wore the same pair all the way from Mexico to Canada. If you opt for trail runners, plan on destroying 5 pairs of them. Maybe 4 if you accept a certain loss of comfort and cushioning towards the end of the shoe’s life (but I really don’t recommend doing that, it’s very damageable for all your joints and ligaments). Or maybe even 6 if you want to always maintain the best comfort and cushioning, and if your budget allows.
- The shape and size of your feet is going to evolve as you hike. They’re gonna swell for sure, and maybe even get flatter, longer and wider over time. For shoes you’re gonna use on day-hikes, it is often recommended that you buy 2 full sizes above your normal city-shoe size. But as you progress on the trail, you might need even bigger shoes… just listen to your feet!
On most of the blogs or websites dedicated to the PCT (and thru-hikes in general) you’ll read that trail runners are a must because of their light weight. That is what I opted for, just like a good 90% of hikers on the PCT I think, and it worked fine for me…
But that doesn’t mean it’ll work for you!
Together with the backpack, shoes are THE element in a hiker’s equipment where there are just no rules and where someone’s experience is not direcly transposable to someone else, so you’ll have to try as many models as it takes to forge your own opinion and find the shoe that works FOR YOU. And here trying means testing! Once you’ve selected a model that seems to work in the store, taking all the time you need and with the help of a (competent) sales person, it’s an absolute must that you get yourself and your new shoes out there and test them on the field, during long (ideally multiple-day) hikes with your full pack as if you were on the PCT (including all the gear you intend to carry plus water and food). A shoe doesn’t behave the same at all when worn on a flat ground with no pack or on a trail with a 26 lbs. pack on your back.
On the trail, your feet will be your most valuable asset.
So spending as long as needed to select the perfect pair of shoes really is a must. It’s not a waste of time: it’s an investment! High upper, low upper, rigid or less rigid, it’s yours to determine what works for YOUR feet and for YOUR hiking style. For as true as it is that the vast majority of thru-hikers use trail runners, I’ve also seen people hike the PCT in old-fashionned, all-leather, Gore-Tex, massive-toe-shell Meindl, despite everything tou can read on ultra-light hiking blogs and guess what… they were doing fine!
Still, here are a few elements you might wanna take into account if you’re not familiar with thru-hikes:
- Hiking 8 to 12 hours a day for 4 to 6 months is not the same as doing day-hikes, even long ones, even on very difficult terrain. Each and every one of the movements you make when you walk will be repeated in a way your body has never experienced before, and with each movement so will impacts and chafing. A shoe that works fine on alpine day- or weekend-hikes where the effort is usually shorter and more intense, may not work so well on a multiple-month hike. It’s technically easier, physically less explosive but the extended period of time makes it extremely demanding on the body, and overall a completely different ball game.
- On a thru-hike, the weight makes all the diffe
rence. Every gram counts, and shoes are no exception. The obvious advantage of trail runners is their (very) light weight. For example the Asolo Stynger GTX (top), an old-timer I’ve hiked with for almost 2 decades – and to this day I consider it the best hiking shoe I’ve ever had – weighs about 1.200g in a size EU 40 (US 7) – which you could argue is still pretty light for a pair of hiking boots. In comparison, the Saucony Xodus ISO 2 (bottom), which I used during most of my PCT, we
ighs 720g in a size EU 43 (US 10), and it’s far from being the lightest in the category. What else… - Another element in favor of trail runners is how breathable they are. Really, they’re nothing more than your average running shoes with improved grip. The top part is made of mesh, just like a running shoe, which provides ideal ventilation for the feet. And that’s a critical element. If you’re only familiar with day-hikes this might seem secondary to you, because once the hike is over you get back home, take your shoes off, put them in the wind to dry-off, clean your feet etc. And on the next day if you’re going on another hike you’re gonna have a pair of clean, dry socks.
But not on a thru-hike.
On a thru-hike you’ll wear the same socks for days on end, you’ll wash them in mountain streams and lay them to dry on the top of your pack. You’re gonna sweat. Sometimes you’ll have to ford streams and you’ll get your feet soaking wet. If your shoes have a GTX membrane the water won’t be able to evaporate as quickly as in a mesh shoe, and your feet will macerate in that mix of water and sweat. That’s fine for a day or two, but after a few days of that regime, the skin of your feet will start peeling, your toe nails will get softer, maybe you’ll develop fungus and in the long run you’ll find out that your general feet’s health deteriorates. - It’s been believed for a long time that high upper shoes offered a better protection ankle protection in case of an accidental twist, if a rock rolled under your foot as you step on it for example. Nowadays on the contrary, many movement experts advise to wear low upper shoes to keep the ankle strong and train proprioception. It is even sometimes considered that, in the case of an important twisting, if the shoe were to firmly maintain the ankle, the imbalance would have to be absorbed by the next join in line. That’s the knee we’re talking about…
Here you can learn more about hiking boots vs. trail runners. The article is in French, I’m actively looking for a good equivalent in English.
Of course now, high upper shoes offer a better protection to the external malleolus, when your ankle hits a rock from the side. We’ve all experienced this at some point, we know it hurts and we know how annoying it is. If you opt for low upper shoes and this happens to you, all you can rely on then is self-control… - The obvious downside of trail runners is their (much lower) durability. Hiking boots are usually very robust and made to last, and most of the people I’ve seen using them on the PCT wore the same pair all the way from Mexico to Canada. If you opt for trail runners, plan on destroying 5 pairs of them. Maybe 4 if you accept a certain loss of comfort and cushioning towards the end of the shoe’s life (but I really don’t recommend doing that, it’s very damageable for all your joints and ligaments). Or maybe even 6 if you want to always maintain the best comfort and cushioning, and if your budget allows.
- The shape and size of your feet is going to evolve as you hike. They’re gonna swell for sure, and maybe even get flatter, longer and wider over time. For shoes you’re gonna use on day-hikes, it is often recommended that you buy 2 full sizes above your normal city-shoe size. But as you progress on the trail, you might need even bigger shoes… just listen to your feet!