I posted this topic over in the gear section and wanted to post it here also. Thanks.
http://www.isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=986
Sports Sandals on IR
Moderator: MikeT
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PatrickBDunlap
- LNT Expert
- Posts: 80
- Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:25 pm
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Re: Sports Sandals on IR
This is an interesting topic for me.
I've had multiple surgeries on my L Knee. ACL, cartilage, blah, blah, blah. In layman's terms, it can be a problem sometimes.
What I discovered last year on an island-long trek on Isle Royale is that sometimes great boots (Asolo) with great ankle support aren't always the best thing. You need to think about other considerations... in this case, a bad knee.
Just off the Greenstone (we were near Mount Franklin), I turned my ankle a bit on one of the zillion gnarled tree roots that claim IR's trails. My ankle held up just fine. Problem is that the "turn" transferred up to my knee. Not good. I sprained it badly and had to limp the 5 miles or so into Rock Harbor. Yep, for the first time in three years, IR beat me.
I backpacked several times after that across the country in a lower cut boot / hybrid. The difference in all of my knee pain was like night and day. A couple of different Doctors have told me that my ankles are far stronger than my knee and that this made all the sense in the world to them.
So... would I wear my Chaco's on IR? Maybe (since I love my Chaco's). We're heading back in May for a solid week this time and plan on doing a lot of bushwhacking. The early game plan is hybrid's for the bush, Chaco's for the trail.
Let's see if I can make it off the island without crutches this year.
Steve
I've had multiple surgeries on my L Knee. ACL, cartilage, blah, blah, blah. In layman's terms, it can be a problem sometimes.
What I discovered last year on an island-long trek on Isle Royale is that sometimes great boots (Asolo) with great ankle support aren't always the best thing. You need to think about other considerations... in this case, a bad knee.
Just off the Greenstone (we were near Mount Franklin), I turned my ankle a bit on one of the zillion gnarled tree roots that claim IR's trails. My ankle held up just fine. Problem is that the "turn" transferred up to my knee. Not good. I sprained it badly and had to limp the 5 miles or so into Rock Harbor. Yep, for the first time in three years, IR beat me.
I backpacked several times after that across the country in a lower cut boot / hybrid. The difference in all of my knee pain was like night and day. A couple of different Doctors have told me that my ankles are far stronger than my knee and that this made all the sense in the world to them.
So... would I wear my Chaco's on IR? Maybe (since I love my Chaco's). We're heading back in May for a solid week this time and plan on doing a lot of bushwhacking. The early game plan is hybrid's for the bush, Chaco's for the trail.
Let's see if I can make it off the island without crutches this year.
Steve