Hi Everyone,

Been lurking the forums here for a while now, let me explain what’s going on…

A few months ago I decided I wanted to get into hiking and backpacking. Nothing major, just day hikes and maybe some 2-3 day trips at most (42 year old male, not in the best of shape). These hikes would be mostly in the Los Padres national forest here in Southern California. I started researching gear and have made most of my purchases over the last month or so.

My first concern regarding gear was foot ware. I decided I wanted to go with a mid-weight hiking boot, so I bought a pair of Vasque Breeze Gore-Tex XCR hiking boots. Size 10.5, fit seems fine. Not too tight (I can push my foot forward and then push my index and middle finger into the boot behind my heel, which I read is one way to test the fit), and not too loose. I also bought Superfeet orange inserts, Smartwool hiking socks and REI SilkOne liners. Every evening I go for a brisk 2.5 mile walk in my neighborhood, and I wore the boots several times on my walk to help break them in. Sometimes I would feel a mild hot-spot on the back of my heel, but no blister or anything ever developed.

So, last Saturday I went on my first hike with the boots on. This was a 6 mile total hike (3 miles in, 3 miles out) to a little campground in the Los Padres forest on the Piedra Blanca trail. While going in, there was about 1,100 feet elevation gain, with most of it being on about the last 1 mile before my destination. This was the first time I used the boots on an incline. By the time I reached my destination the backs of my heels were burning pretty good. I took the boots and socks off to have a look (I should have done this sooner). My right heel wasn’t too bad, but the left heel had a nickel-sized area on the back of it where the outer layer of skin was basically worn off. It wasn’t a blister (or at least by this time it wasn’t), it was just a raw, painful patch of skin. I had taken some Dr Scholls blister pads and mole skin with me, so I applied those and then made my way back. I’m still wearing the blister pads on the left heel while it heals up.

My question now is, what do I do going forward about these boots? Is this a normal break-in occurrence? Will my heels callous over and that will fix the problem? Should I apply mole skin and/or blister pads before wearing the boots? Or are these boots simply not going to work for me? I hate to think I just have to toss the boots, because I really don’t want to keep spending $100-200 trying out boots again and again. My enthusiasm is really starting to drain away thinking of this.

Anyone have any advice for me?

Thanks.

Ray