Need information on Hiking Shoes

[znfdl]

I am not an avid hiker, but my wife and I will beundertaking a huge endeavor this coming winter, as we will be doing an assaulton Mt. Kilimanjaro. Since I am not anavid hiker, one might want to know how we ended up doing this trip. My wife is turning fifty and I asked her whatshe would like to do and she said climb Kilimanjaro.
So here I am asking about hiking shoes. I want to get them soon, so that they can bebroken in by the time December rolls around. Kilimanjaro will pose some challenges as we start in a Rain Forest and couldend up weather as cold as -20F. Is itreasonable to have only one pair of shoes or should I bring two distinctlydifferent pairs; one pair for the lower altitudes and one pair for the higheraltitudes.
If I am over thinking this please let me know (I have a habit of over analyzing situations)….. Thanks.

[vertical_doug]

I'll assume you are doing a guided hike and will not be carrying all that much gear yourselves. The guide outfit should have provided you with a list. For lower elevations, go with approach shoes. 3/4 cut. These will be lighter to walk in , quicker to dry, etc. For the higher elevations, I don't think you need crampons, so you should not go too extreme. However, a lot of this depends on your wife's level of fitness. Are her ankles good? Also, I find women tend to be colder than men, so you will need to experiment a bit. Go for a couple of hikes in the whites and you'll figure it out.

I think many of the top brands are really good so go to a good shop and try shoes on. I tend to go with less boot except for winter climbing. I still have 10 toes and want to keep it that way.

You might want to get some diamox from your doctor to bring along.

[znfdl]

Doug, this will be a 6 day guided hike. All we need to carry is 20lbs or less per day. Her fitness level is OK, but she does not have the same endurance that I have. The other people on the assualt will be in similar shape that she is in. We are starting to go on 5 mile walks at night with an empty pack and then after a couple of weeks we will start adding wieght to the pack. By the time we go to Arizona in late October, we will each be carrying 20lbs.

We will be spending a week in late October doing the following:
2 days of hiking the canyons in Sedona
3 days hiking up and down the grand canyon
2 days hiking death valley *these will take us from below sea level to about 7-8K in elevation gain), I will also be throwing in the Death Valley Double Century

I am thinking of maybe hiking Mt Whitney in late November, but have to do some reserach on this adventure.

[vertical_doug]

Doug, this will be a 6 day guided hike. All we need to carry is 20lbs or less per day. Her fitness level is OK, but she does not have the same endurance that I have. The other people on the assualt will be in similar shape that she is in. We are starting to go on 5 mile walks at night with an empty pack and then after a couple of weeks we will start adding wieght to the pack. By the time we go to Arizona in late October, we will each be carrying 20lbs.

We will be spending a week in late October doing the following:
2 days of hiking the canyons in Sedona
3 days hiking up and down the grand canyon
2 days hiking death valley *these will take us from below sea level to about 7-8K in elevation gain), I will also be throwing in the Death Valley Double Century

I am thinking of maybe hiking Mt Whitney in late November, but have to do some reserach on this adventure.

Day Hiking to trail camp in late November is doable, but beyond that, it gets serious on Whitney that time of year.

Sedona is awesome. I go there between Christmas and New Years when visiting my parents in az. The rock is super fast and an absolutely brilliant place to trail run. I don't believe in the Vortex, but I run better there than any other place.

Grand Canyon will be good. If you're doing this much, you'll have figured it out by Kilimanjaro. The only thing you can't account for is altitude for kili.

[znfdl]

We will be taking diamox to help with the altitude. For this trip, I do not mind better living through chemistry.

Base Camp MD - Guide to High Altitude Medicine

[mumbleypeg]

This is a trip that is on my list. I have settled on Asolo as my boot of choice. There are several things to consider, fit being the most important. Weight is another, what doesn't seem significant at first becomes hateful after a long day of picking up and putting down. The stiffness of the sole is, for me critical. I don't want to feel every root and stone but I don't want it stiff enough for crampons.

I know several people that have done Kilimanjaro, all have said it is a fantastic trip, most of them are average fitness. Any of them that had difficulty had it with altitude.

Whitney has a lottery in February , it gets booked for the year. Late season is my favorite but after the second week of October weather gets dicey. If you check with the Ranger station in Lone Pine, they can tell you availability.