After doing as much research as I can, I have decided to try using New Ballance 804AT running shoes at some point during my thru-hike. If I like them, I will use them instead of my leather boots. For those of you who used running shoes, when did you start using them? I am starting March 4th in Georgia, and assume that it is far too cold and snowy/ icy to use them right away. Also, was there any point later on (i.e: the Whites) when you went back to boots after using shoes?
Thanks!
Jen
Your right about it being early to go to shoes, the mud and cold would make it rather unpleasant. After the last Big Bald in Va depaending on the weather might be okay. From my point on boots to shoes it would be a fair assumption that you might want to keep your pack weight as low as possible when making the switch. Your requirement for ankle support will go down with a lighter pack and the soles of your feet, balls and arches will like a lighter pack also. 25# or less with a full load of food and gear I would try in trail runners. Remeber that running or trail “shoes” are just that. They were never designed to be used with a pack. It’s no different than you weighing in at 250# and trying to get any sort of milage out of a shoe. The sides just blow out as we saw this year. 400-800 miles was about it with any brand. Sweeper, you used 'runners didn’t you, how did they do for you? The other choice for a lighter “hybrid” low cut is something like a Garmont. It has a boot like sole but a tennis shoe top so you get the best of both worlds in weight loss and breathing. I mention the hybrid with the stiff sole as some hiker friends we walked with got some nasty stress fractures in thier metatarsals for rock points and soft soles. They don’t distribute the load evenly to the whole foot bed. Bramble used the Garmonts and loved them, good foot padding and arch support and light. This year even REI has gotten on the wagon with hybrid shoes, I looked at the last catalog and they had some cool models you might check out. And lastly bounce your boots ahead and not home, if it doesn’t work out the old faithfuls are only a P.O. away.
Bushwhack
Jen, Running shoes with alot of foam/gel cushioning might not hold up on the trail with full pack.
I trained for a hike out of the Grand Canyon 5 or 6 years
ago and ruined a pair of good running shoes, maybe even NBs!
My training was on a relatively easy nature trail, well graded with few rocks.
Perhaps a smaller person, carrying less packweight will fare better.
Ken J
Scamp
Dear Jen,
I think running shoes on the trail are a mistake. In the end, they won’t hold up. They are better as camp shoes, to be used on the trail only in an emergency (ie, your boots somehow fail).
Consider this. There are many rocky, uneven, climbing portions to the trail. There will be times you lose your footing, there will be times you will be fairly sliding downhill. You need a boot that can maintain a solid, flat surface for you–which is to say, a stable sole.
Danner makes two and a half pound per pair boots, with great cushioning, little to no break in time (for me it was zero break in time), lugged soles, and–most importantly here–with steel shanks for solid footing (and did I mention they come with Goretex as well, and different widths?). Go to their website, look for the Mountain Light and Mountain Light II. Price, if I remember correctly, is in the $200.00 range, and, from my point of view, and experience, well worth it.
Sincerely–Paul English.
Paul English
Howdy Folks,
I used shoes the whole way. My pack was pretty light from Springer, about 17-25 pounds average, I’d say.
I started out with NB 803AT’s on March 31, which lasted until Waynesboro, VA before I started walking one side over. Then I switched to Nike runners. They lasted until Kent, CT. From there I wore slightly beafier Merrill hiking shoes. They were a little heavier but better on the rocks. I should have had them starting in PA.
I’ve got good ankles, but never had any trouble with ankle support the whole way. Lot’s of folks switched to shoes along the way. One fellow named “Wink” was hiking in sandles in the snow, by wearing wool socks covered with plastic bags. Probably will not be widely accepted however. Then of course there was the Barefoot Sisters who usually didn’t wear any footwear.
One big advantage of shoes or lightweight boots is that the breakin is very easy. I met lots of folks whose feet were hamburger from heavy, unbroken-in boots.
I’m a firm believer in going light: light pack and light footwear.
Colter
To All:
If we’re going to discuss the merits of boots versus shoes, where the main issue is construction (“utility”) versus weight, and where the major objective is finding the best combination of the two (or where on the sliding scale the best combination is found), then we need to provide for each other the weights of various boots and shoes we discuss.
This is particularly true when we discover that many running shoes and hiking shoes are in fact heavier than some hiking boots!
The term “lightweight” has little meaning by itself, particularly with the advertising we see today.
We need to know ounces and pounds, and then we decide for ourselves whether a thing is “lightweight.” Then, knowing that, we decide whether the thing also has the “utility” we seek.
Sincerely–Paul English.
Paul English
Unfortunately, I don’t have the shoes I had on the trail to weigh right now, but for example I found the following:
M904AT Weight: 389 grams (13.8 oz.)
It’s ALL theory until it has been tried. No one should blindly buy a boot because it’s a boot or a shoe because it’s a shoe. Running shoes will not hold up for the length of the trail, but it’s the hiker I want to last, not the footwear. Very few people hike the whole trail on one set of footwear of any kind.
Although I’m sure there are plenty of examples of the opposite, I met a lot of people who went from hiking boots to shoes, but I can’t think of one case of someone I talked to where they went from shoes to boots. Shoes aren’t for every thru-hiker on the AT, but I do think they ARE for most folks. If you want to wear a boot, I’d listen to Mr. English and get a lightweight pair.
You can carry camp shoes if you like, but if do, you’ll be packing heavier than most folks do towards the end of the trail.
Colter
I would say May 4th is a safe day. You may get some snow, but I doubt very much. If you are woried about it, take a pair as your camp shoes and try walking half a day in them.
I have done a few hundred miles in running shoes now and prefer them to hiking boots. I have hiked and worked in boots for about 25 years and have most likely done thousands of miles in boots, and I have now seen the light. I would reccomend getting your pack weight down first. My current pack weight is 27 pounds full for 5 - 6 days, but I did 150 miles of the At this summer in running shoes with a starting weight of 38 pounds.
I have been using my current shoes which are simply Nike Air Pegasus running shoes for about 250-300 miles of hiking, including all the AT and some of the blue blazez south of Wesser, N.C. So far, besides having some mud stains and a couple of rock scuffs, they are doing very well. Since we need to mention weight, they weigh in at 24.7 ounces for a size 9 1/2 men’s. I honestly haven’t missed the waffel stomper vibram soles because I found my running shoes picked up less mud than any pair of boots I ever used except Army Jungle boots.
For colder weather I have a pair of Seal Skinz socks that I wear over a pair of sock liners. Works very well, as well as my $200 Asolo Gortex boots that now gather dust.
As a converted boot hiker with WEAK ankles, I have actually had less ankle turns and foot injuries since switching to running shoes than I ever did with any boots except the Asolo boots. But the Asolo boots had a very stiff shank on them wich after 10 miles would make my feet numb from the constant pounding they send to your feet. Sure you can step right on sharp big rocks in them and it won’t bruise your feet, it spreads the shock to the entire foot.
Anyway, take any advise you get on the internet and try it for yourself. What works for someone may not work for another. Do a couple of practice hikes before May and see how your feet feel in 2.5 pound boots or 1.5 pound running shoes before you take off from Springer.
SGT Rock
For the last 2 years, I have hiked in Vasque MX2 Sundowners ( 2 Lbs each ), I love them, however they also transmit the shock exactly like SGT Rock said. I also get my toes banged up on long distance downhills due to the stiff front foot.
I switched last week to the Montrail Vitesse Trail Runners and so far I like them fine. They dont weigh as much ( 14 oz each ), so they are easier to do step ups going up long uphills like we have here in the Smokies. Last weekend I did 10 miles in very rocky terrain and they did great. Yesterday I hiked 9 miles in varied terrain and today 10 miles, 4 uphill and 4 on a long downhill. My toes feel fine, I havent turned my ankle even once yet and I pulled the uphills Much easier than with my boots. My packweight with 3 days of food and a liter of water, Ready for Springer, with full winter clothes is 26 Lbs, so I am kind of lightweight. SGT Rock and I both use very similar gear as I recall.
I will start springer on March 22, hiking to the North Carolina state line.
PS: SGT Rock, my seal skinz arrived yesterday and I havent had a rainy day to try them yet 
Its great to hear of you using them also. What liners did you use? I have never hiked in liners before, Just my Thorlos.
Caulk up another convert to Trail runners. I’ll let you all know how they handle Georgia.
Jim Deane, Rebel with a Cause !!
Jim Deane
I use polypro sock liners or just simple polyester dress socks.
Honestly I hike without socks most of the time, but in cold wet weather they sure feel nice.
In camp when it gets cold I wear some wool socks under the Seal Skinz.
SGT Rock