Best Shoes for Thru-Hiking? Drop, Cushion & Arch Support 101 – Garage Grown Gear

By A Mystery Man Writer

On the PCT in 2019, everyone and their mother seemed to be wearing Altras. You would see their outsole’s signature design — a footprint — all throughout the sandy desert trail in California. I was a very inexperienced hiker, and I kept seeing these prints and hearing people talk about them, but I kept mishearing them described as “ultras.” I didn’t know what they were, and I especially didn’t know what people meant when they described them as “zero drop.” I was 150 miles into my hike, in Idyllwild, California, and I was shopping for my first pair of trail runners. I’d brought a pair of Gore-Tex boots, a size too small, into the hot, hot desert. My blisters had blisters. The outdoor retailer there told me I had wide feet and that Altras would fit well, but she was
On the PCT in 2019, everyone and their mother seemed to be wearing Altras. You would see their outsole’s signature design — a footprint — all