Barefoot on Street and Nye

[Pete_Hickey]

Not all the way, but......

Friday morning, I headed up Street & Nye, my adopted peaks, to do a little blowdown clearing. It was an OK day for a rainy day; A lot warmer than I had expected, but still wet.

Indian Pass Brook was kind of high, and rather than waste my time looking for a
place to rock-hop across, I simply decided to remove my shoes and socks, and wade across. When I reached the other side, I sat down to put my shoes back on, but realized that my shoes and socks were dry, and my feet were not. I decided to walk a bit barefoot until my feet dried.

Now, the wisdom of walking in the rain expecting feet to dry is something that could be questioned, but I am glad that I did this. You see, I found out that the woods there have a nice soft ground which feels very sensual on bare feet. I
was really enjoying my barefoot hike; Until I had to Stop to Chop.

You see, the previous night, I was with my son, and I used his tools and workshop to put a keen edge on my axe: extremely sharp. Sharp enough to cut skin which lightly touched it. My finger knows that.

So, maybe you're getting the picture. Bare feet, and sharp axes do not go together. Now, this is not something I had read-None of my books mention not using an axe barefoot, net somehow I thought It was not a good idea. I put my shoes back on.

After the chopping, I started to walk, but missed the sensual feel of the Nye earth, and re-removed my shoes. Ahhh.. it felt good.

For a while my pattern was: Stop to Chop, re-shoe, then un-shoe, but after a while this became tedious, and I left them on for the remainder of the walk.

Since I had a meeting with the DEC in the afternoon, I didn't have time to reach the summit, and was back in time for my one o'clock meeting (which required shoes, incidentally)

So... Bottom line... If you're looking for a peak to climb barefoot, I highly recomend Street and Nye. Your feet will love you for it.

 

[Toe Cozy]

Great trip report! Was the trail rocky, leafy, roots, muddy? I guess probably all. Mud on bare feet is a fun feeling. Adults forget this kind of stuff. Thanks for reminding us how not to be too adult! (except for your excellent recommendation of not using your axe barefoot)

Sorry you felt that your meeting had to be conducted with shoes. Do you think it would have gone any differently had you not been wearing shoes? Why do we think shoes so important in day to day interactions. hmmm...let's start a Shoe-free Revolution! Who's with me??

 

[sleeping bear]

On a recent short hike in the Middlesex Fells I had the notion to remove my shoes. I started getting all philosophical about it "I want to be one with the earth bla bla bla" ( I don't smoke, I swear). I also had the great idea that if my feet got tough enough I wouldn't need to bring extra shoes or sandals backpakcing- I'd just go barefoot. I used to do it as a kid all the time. This was going to be my summer of bare feet!

So, I stopped about a half mile from my car and shed my shoes and socks. It was a little gravelly and hurt my feet so I headed for the edge of the trail to seek out softer soil, but to no avail. Maybe 20 feet down the trail I couldn't take it anymore. I am a WIMP! My pampered feet cannot hack it, I am a prisoner of my shoes!

Maybe this is a good excuse to go to New York, where the soil must be softer!

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Great trip report! Was the trail rocky, leafy, roots, muddy?

Very little mud, almost no rocks, and few roots. Mostly soft earth. Whenever I would pass a mud section, I would make sure to leave nice distinct footprints in the mud.

Sorry you felt that your meeting had to be conducted with shoes. Do you think it would have gone any differently had you not been wearing shoes?

I'll let you in on a little secret: I didn't wear shoes to the meeting. I lied in the above report, because it sounded better..... BTW, I taught for 11 years, and was barefoot just about every class. I neer thought anything about it until one day, passing a group of students, I overheard, "He's the barefoot teacher I was telling you about."

I became self-conscious after that.

 

[BorealChickadee]

I became self-conscious after that.

Yeah right, piggy toes!

 

[Rick]

I'll start small and go get the paper barefoot this morning - If you never see anymore posts from me, then probably I didn't make it...

 

[Jay H]

pete, you can always wear these to class:

I mean they are bear feet!

Jay

 

[hikethe115]

I love going barefoot, however I have not tried hiking that way. I spent most of by summers barefoot up until about 10 years ago. I don't do it as much any more though...I think because of the scare of ticks and Lyme. Thanks for reminding me to take the time to feel the earth on my feet. I will have to try Street and Nye barefoot.

 

[Jay H]

Well, when HarryK, Ed, and I did Street/Nye this past winter, there was a lot of steep scrambling on top of Nye when we got off the official herd path and we had to kind of scramble over a bunch of blowdown on the way back. (snow on top of fallen trees). Not sure how comfy that would of been barefoot and I don't know if my bare feet are crampon compatible too?



Jay

 

[timmus]

After the chopping, I started to walk, but missed the sensual feel of the Nye earth, and re-removed my shoes. Ahhh.. it felt good.

All the time I hear people complaining about how boring Nye is... Well, from now I'm gonna tell them how Pete Hickey made that hike sensual.

 

[Dugan]

Not sure how comfy that would of been barefoot and I don't know if my bare feet are crampon compatible too?

I'm assuming one could do what I do for my dog, and leave the nails a bit longer in winter?