Saturday I went on another barefoot hike. This time a proper hiking trail through the woods. I was pretty excited to give my feet a test drive on the trail. For this trip I brought three kids with me, my daughter age 11, and two foster boys ages 8 and 3.
My first few steps on the trail were surprisingly soft. I could feel the ground give beneath my feet, even more so than a carpet. I eventually did encounter roots and rocks, but nothing that was too difficult for my bare feet to handle. The most challenging aspect of the hike was where to put my feet. In the past with boots, I had a lot more options on the placement of my feet and now I have to take a bit more care. To make matters even more challenging, I was holding he hand of the three year old who was constantly tripping and falling. Pretty typical for a toddler, since he even falls crossing the kitchen floor. So I tried to steer him onto the best path for his feet, which left me with a less ideal option.
Now add challenge number two, the toddler is not always predictable and will often choose the more difficult of the options in front on him. So he takes the spot where I planned to step and now I need to reroute my steps into even less desirable options. And when he did slip and fall his leg or body was often laying right in front of me, causing me to abort whatever step I had planned and take evasive action.
To me the trail is easy to follow and any person with half a brain should be able to stay on the trail. How difficult could that be. Well, I guess dirt, stones, wood, leaves, pine needles look nothing like a path to a toddler. Especially when they have been taught to stay on the sidewalk walk or paved path. Now I'm telling him to stay on the trail, he is probably thinking, "What trail!". At one point we came to a fairly straight section of trail, that was all swept out and only the bare earth showing. I let go of his hand and told him to follow the path. He immediately veers off the path and steps off the path down the bank onto the loose debris on the side of the path and falls. I pick him up and tell him just walk down the path, and then had to straighten him out several times before he managed to walk on the path.
On the way down, another challenge is as the toddler stumbles down the trail holding onto my hand, I am required to be slightly bent over, since he is usually slightly in front of me on the downhill side of the trail. Then as he lurches this way and that his 50 pound body is constantly tugging me in unexpected directions. Once again I need to change where I plan to place my feet, due to the influence his little body has on my center of gravity. It didn't take long for my back to feel the effects of holding onto the toddlers hand.
Probably one of the best parts of the day was early on in the hike, my daughter decided to join me in being barefoot and asked if I had room in my pack for her shoes. We also saw a handful of people hiking the trail and no one commented at all on our bare feet. The hike was a success and I'm already planning another hike, a bit longer this time, without the toddler though.
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