Trail Runners

Erwin TN
Mile 338

Breaking in new trail runners purchased in Hot Springs. Trail runners are basically stiff running shoes with heavy treads for gripping rock and such. They have no ankle support, but with my light pack I don't really need it. They weigh about a tenth as much as boots and, unlike boots, they actually dry out when they get wet.

Unfortunately breaking in any new footwear involves a period of blisters. This is why journal entries have been somewhat scant of late- I spend my spare time in the evenings pampering my feet.

Erwin TN is a case-in-progress of how to ruin a rural community. Someone somewhere must be happy that poverty-level families need cars to get groceries or to do damn near anything. That someone being the Sauds, actually.

I didn't linger there, and this journal won't either.