I have this problem where after several days on the trail the soles of my feet become very tender and every time I take a step there is a burning sensation. Let me go into a little more detail. Things usually start off good. I can go a couple of days and have no issues. Then about the 3rd or 4th day in I start to notice the problem. It seems to revolve around moisture. What happens is my feet either sweat in my boots, or get wet from some other source (like if it’s raining). After a short amount of time of being in the boots they start to prune up as if I were sitting in a bath (I like to call it “hamburger foot”). Once the pruning occurs that’s when the burning starts kicking in. After the trip is complete I then go through a few week period where the skin on my soles gets leather-like. Every time this happens I’m thinking, “Awesome, I finally toughened them up”, only to have all that skin peel off where I have to start from scratch on the next trip.

I didn’t really figure out that I had this problem until last year when I did the GA section of the AT, I always thought it was the footwear. I was having the issue during the trip and talked with someone at Mountain Crossings when I re-supplied, and she told me I needed to manage the moisture. Ever since then I have been trying various things to combat the problem with varying levels of success, however I haven’t been able to totally beat it. The thing that has worked best thus far is taking frequent breaks to dry my feet off, and changing into dry socks during every break. The issue I still have is that I primarily hike here in the SE where it is either hot and/or wet, so it’s pretty much impossible to keep my footwear 100% dry.

So, with all that said, anyone else have this problem? If so, have you figured out a way to manage it?