hi,

I'm new to hiking/backpacking, and have been breaking in the Salomon hi-top boots I got at REI by going on one hour walks, including some steep neighborhood hills, with progressively heavier backpack that is now up to 35 lbs. (I'm 6 foot 1, 195 lbs, athletic build) I had gone on probably 15 of such one-hour backpacking "walks", about 4 miles each time, without any foot problems. I thought I had broken them in pretty well.

This past weekend I went on my first real hiking trip, a 15 hour / 18 mile , round trip hike up to San Gorgonio Summit, carrying about 30 lbs, and after about 10 hours into the walk, I started having some hot spots - symmetrical in both feet - at the foot arch, and to a lesser extent, over the 5th toes on both sides.

It's been two days, and thankfully no blisters or skin breakdown developed, just red tender spots that are getting better.

QUESTION:

Should I take the boots back to REI and get ones that are wider in the middle, where they were rubbing my feet? As you know, REI has a great return policy so I can do that if needed.

Or should I work with my current boots, e.g. keep breaking them in and getting my feet used to them, and do all the recommended things like tape, or cream, or double layer socks, etc ?

thanks,
Adam