Here's an interesting idea that I use, and it really has nothing to do with Bigfoot...

On a long hike when stopping to take a break, I try to make a point of taking off my shoes and walking around for a few minutes.

For me, there are a couple of benefits to this:
There's nothing better than sticking your feet in an ice-cold snow-melt stream to really invigorate them!
And,
It gives me the feeling of being connected to the forest. I've noticed that when I'm out in the wild with no shoes on, I feel differently than with them on. I feel "in tune" with the surroundings. The term "being grounded" can be taken literally here as well. With shoes on, you are pretty isolated from the Earth. But with them off, you are essentially "grounded". Is this significant? I think so. Every process in our bodies is an electrical process of sorts, and there are lots of stray electrical energies drifting around the environment. Being grounded (in my opinion) allows one to experience all of what's available, and it helps me better imagine how our ancestors went about life. It makes me feel closer to my environment.
Is it partly/mostly/entirely psycholgical? Probably. Is it a real physical difference? I think so, but I certainly have no evidence other than my own experience to describe it.

It's something I highly recommend, BUT-
If you leave footprints, please wipe them away!

I halfway there, in warmer weather, I wear sport scandals unless Im ding serious bushwacking, if only because your step is that lil bit lighter

barefoot in the backyard is cool, but do that in the bush here in Texas and you'll
quickly discover every fire ant, mesquite thorn, misc sticker, cacti and snake on
the planet ! Not to mention all the ticks and chiggers you could ever dream of.




dav

I used to be a real tenderfoot and could barely walk down my stairs outside. I decided to get my feet in shape. A couple of years ago I started taking my shoes off for a mile or so during one of the many hikes on the local trails. After several months I was walking about 6 miles in my bare feet. They were really nice soft trails but there was this most evil kind of thorn that I would occasionally step on. Then there were the sharp rocks in the sand. It takes a lot of pain to get your foot bones in shape. I got out of the habit because it warmed up and the rattlesnakes changed my mind. The kind that bit huntster are very common around here, the southern pacific, and his story of almost dying made walking barefoot seem to dangerous when the snakes are about. The tiny ones like to sit on the trails.

And then there's some of us lucky people that have all of those in our backyards too!!! I've got a mesquite tree, fire ants, stickers, cacti (and yucca) in my pasture, and some really cute little copperheads that like to lay around on my front deck sometimes. Oh--and a 25 lb pup with razor teeth that thinks toes are fun. I don't go anywhere barefoot at my house. I wish, though!!

For those of you that remember, I took a lot of ribbing when I told my hiking naked (with shoes on) story but it's that same feeling that Spazmo talked about that led me to do it. After the violence of a day falling timber, it gave me a real feeling of harmony to walk naked through the forest. I don't know if there really was a greater closeness to nature but in my mind, it felt like it.

And I walk barefoot all the time, especially since I left my Birkenstocks sitting on a stump on the flanks of Mt. Shasta last summer.

Have fun, Norcal

Firefly, you're out south or west of Ft Worth, I think. I am on Lake Ray Hubbard east of Dallas, I
havent found any copperheads but occassionaly at night you find the lost water moccasin
wondering thru the front yard. Thats lovely in your barefeet when you are hitting the mailbox
in the late evening. (nice run-on)

dav

See any scorpions? They sometimes hide in shoes when they get in the house.





You're pretty much near ground zero for sightings there huh? I grew up in S'port and went to East Texas, romped around your area for a while.

I haven't seen any scorpions in my house, but my sister has them. I spent the night once and woke up to something crawling on my pinky finger. I flinched and it zapped me. It felt like being stabbed by a huge needle. I hate those things!

And yes, DavSquatch, I'm west of Ft Worth out in the beautiful land of the mesquites.

I'm kinda the opposite of BobZenor's situation;
As a kid I didn't put shoes on unless I was yelled at about it. I could walk on almost anything. I even went barefoot on camping trips if I could get away with it.
Then I grew up and got in the habit of wearing shoes. Now, I can barely step on a friggin' cottonball without pain.
But, I still take my shoes off out in the forest whenever I think I can get away with it. I'm not travelling any distance like this, I just tromp around the general area I'm taking a break in. And I keep my shoes in my hand when I do this because I have also noticed how small critters sneak into your shoes when you're not looking!
Up where I usually hike, there are no rattlers. Even so, I don't think I'm up for a six mile jaunt barefoot like Bob mentioned, but I would sure love to be able to do it like when I was a kid. Maybe it's time for me to get my feet in shape like Bob did...

I have a cousin who lives in Micronesia, and he hates coming to the states to visit. There are a lot of things he hates about society in general, but the one thing he complains the most about is wearing shoes. He's been there for about 35 years, and the callouses on his feet look like they're a half-inch thick.

I hadn't originally planned on mentioning this, but NorCal brought it up, so what the heck;
Call me weird if you want, but for some reason I absolutely LOVE being naked in the forest as well. I never feel as alive as when I'm buck-naked in bare feet out in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea why this is, and I've never really questioned it because it feels like something I'm supposed to do. The only real drawbacks are 1) making sure you are truly alone, and not in danger of being spotted (not because of modesty, but because if someone reports you you're screwed) and 2) I hate putting my socks back on when my feet are dirty. So I usually find a place near water to do this stuff. That way I can rinse my feet, which is always a thrill if the water is good and cold.

It may not be the same for everybody, but for those of you adventurous enough to give it a try, go out and find a safe place to at least take off your shoes. Let your feet feel the earth. Become connected with it. Who knows what will follow? If you end up wanting to "go further", just make sure you're in a safe place.

Well, I guess since a confession is good for the soul.....there have been sightings of a certain climber on Mt. Adams catching rays on the glaciers dressed in nothing but boots and crampons and briefs.....

Ummm... If you say so pal, if you say so personally I think that walking barefoot in a wooded area will only get you thorns in your calves or broken glass from bottles of drunken hunters or campers etc. And considering that in your case you are speaking about the really chilly northern latitudes iced stream water will most likely end up giving you acute frostbite.

But to each his or her own...

I knew there were more of us out there!

I hope you streakers aren't mistaken for a "white bigfoot".

I can just imagine trying to explain to the doctor how I got second degree sunburns "there" > There's not enough sunblock in the world would make me do that. The lawsuits from witness retinal damage are another matter.

HAHAHA!!!!
This is cracking me up!

In all of my years doing this, I never really stopped to consider what I might look like out there. As in, if someone did happen by, what would they describe?

Well, now that I think about it, my ass is pretty white. Like "dazzling" white! And there is the extra "contrast factor" from my tanned Italian skin on the rest of me! I must look pretty comical...

I also have these white stripes across the tops of my feet from wearing flipflops all the time. I must be quite a sight out there...

Too much information there Spazmo...

I did some hiking at a new preserve today and kept thinking about this thread. It was relatively hot out, at least for this time of the year and I was thinking how good the semi wet ground and grass would feel on my bare feet. THEN.. I spied a tree and decided to take a closer look at it before embarking on a barefoot hike...

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I'm not sure what kind of tree this is, but I DO KNOW I'm not walking barefoot anywhere that there's a chance a "Thorn" might go clear THROUGH my foot! When I was much younger I had a thorn go into the side of my knee and travel under my kneecap which required in-office surgery by the doctor to remove it. That was bad enough.

no BF around here, you occassionaly get the sighting of "nutcase", otherwise
known as skier or lone jet skier flyng thru a known trotline area.

dav

vilnoori keeps a careful eye out for white flashes of norcal, spazmo and adamsclimber

lol I spent all my time barefoot as a kid in Africa (except Sunday mornings). We had all the nasties you can think of, learned to have a very sharp eye and never to step where I hadn't had a good look first. Feet got too tough to admit chiggers or thorns. They're way too soft now, though, for barefoot hiking, and the thought of all those nettles out there is another thing!

YOWZA!
What the heck is that thing?
Can you imagine stumbling into that in the dark?
That tree makes cactus look almost inviting!

The neighborhood dogs prevent me from walking barefoot in my own yard, and for all you buff-hickers,all I can say is.........where's my sunglass's!

Sunglasses???
You're gonna need welding goggles.

MA!!, I just saw this albino monkey over there on that rock!

Sounds like that person who saw the white monkey needs to make a post over in the PTSD thread...

Albino??? Some folks are gonna be seeing two-toned apes from the sounds of it!

Everytime I read this thread I think about NoxieMr sitting on his front porch with a 12 gauge, picking off buck-naked streakers instead of shooting cars.

I've been walking around doing yard work barefoot since the snow melted until I stepped on a piece of wood trim with 2 nails in it while taking the garbage out in the dark. One in my heel and the other in the soft fleshy part under the ball.

I'm going to wear sandals until it heals but man did that ever hurt.

Other than that, when I'm camping I usually go barefoot unless I'm going to be walking where it's rocky, gravelly or thorny.

Ouch MooseMan! I've had a nail in the foot before and that really hurts!

Here's an example of our mesquite tree thorns:

I was moving a stack of old lumber once and stepped on a nail...
Watched it pop right through the top of my shoe, and thought, "Ok, wait for it...this is gonna hurt."
But it didn't. It went right between my toes. Talk about lucky!

Ok, FireFly and Moregon-
You folks have some seriously dangerous looking native plant life!
In the Sierras, my worst fear (plant-wise) is stinging nettle. I grabbed a stalk with my bare hand once, and I seriously thought it might feel better to chop off my hand. But it only lasts a few hours...

I had the opposite experience, and it went straight through the sole, top of the running shoe and didn't miss flesh, it hurt some, but didn't hit anything vital and just cost me a
tetanus shot, fairly clean nail too, got lucky on that part.

Hi

Here in the Cape we pretty much just have Sand and lots of it, No poisonous animals or overly large sword thorns to worry about, In the Summer it's all Sperry's ( Boat / deck shoes ) Or sandals,

Peace
Tim

Ive done that, ouch!

Okay Timmy, you don't have to rub it in!!!!! You're a lucky guy!!

I miss the ocean.......

Oh, Bro! I grew up with that stuff. Talk about a burn, it's like your whole hand is on fire!
Me and my brother used to play in the hill behind our house when we were young, loaded with poison oak. Well, when your'e playin' in the hills, who wants to run home and pee, well the rest of this story is up to your imagination.

Hi

Being on or around the ocean is pretty cool, But there are some mighty wonderful places around us all, I remember when i was in the Army in Colorado Springs and fell in love with the mountains and the forest, I often feel pretty jealous when you guys talk about going in there for days cause the one around me takes only about an hour to walk through

Peace
Tim

Wow, you must be a terrible shot...



Yep, been there as well. There's no way to describe that two-week long agony.

Agony is an understatement

next time that happens, look around for some lichen, chew it up and rub it on your stung parts. Works!

Yup, you get this is the nether regions . . . you'll be hatin.

My relatives in MO had a farm and saw mill. I dunno why in the hell they thought it would be a good idea to tell the kids to go play in the huge 1\4 acre mountain of saw dust. Can you imagine be COVERED with chiggars and seed ticks at the same time? Agony I tells ya, sheer agony. I thought it must be their way of telling us never to visit again.




.

Seriously though Spazmo you really go into the woods all by yourself with no one to back you up should you get into trouble such as an accident etc.? Forgive me if I say so but it sounds foolhardy to do so!

Wow, I always thought that Mesquite was a broadleaf. Is that the same Mesquite that they use for grilling, smoking and bar-b-que? I'd hate to be the firewood guy making a living cutting that stuff.

If I was new at it, it probably wouldn't be a good idea.

I REALLY like this thread. Thanks Spazmo!

Even if you are as good or better than Survivor man it is still a bad idea to go alone in the woods...

Can't speak for the others, but around here there isn't much choice, your in"the woods" within a very short distance pretty much no matter which direction you go. A good bit of Western WA is that way, you'd never get anything done around here if you waited for somebody everytime you needed to cut wood, hunt, fish, pick berries and all that stuff, let alone a little recreating to maintain your sanity after winter lets up enough to get out and about.

You spoke for me.

I always go in the bush alone. Almost always. Quieter that way. I come prepared, I leave explicit directions of where I'll be, and I know what I'm doing. Been doing it that way for years. Mind you, I have very active guardian angels .

knock on wood Ive never had trouble, almost always solo, and without a gun, bear mace, machete and my wits

Hey Norcal, I like this thread too! It's liberating!
PM, I also do these things in familiar areas. There is zero chance of getting lost, and I take care of other threats the same as others who have posted; I make sure someone knows (generally) where I'm going and I don't take unnecessary risks.

And sometimes I do take the wife with me, but those hikes are a little "different"...