>>990325First thing to note about barefoot hiking: You don't just do it. You gotta train your feet for quite a while until you even consider a multi day hike. Depending where you live, just get out there and start walking around. You'll notice a lot of muscles moving that are normally completely unused while wearing normal shoes. Also, never run on your heels unless you want shin splints. I can speak from personal experience that your feet will thank you for abandoning normal shoes entirely. I used to be flat-footed and slower than a snail going uphill. Now I'm easily more nimble than anybody else I've gone in the woods with and the arch of my foot is just about normal!
