Vibram Five Fingers KSOs Give Grand Canyon Hiker a Foot Massage and Impress Park Rangers

I’ve been running in my KSOs for a few months now, but haven’t had much opportunity to take them out into nature and get them dusty. I recently went to the Grand Canyon and figured this was a great opportunity to introduce them to the outside.

My buddy and I hiked the South Kaibab trail down to Bright Angel Creek and back – over seven miles each way, and about 4000 feet elevation change. Even with a ten pound pack on my back, the KSOs held up. They gave me enough traction on the dusty trails, and my feet were comfortable the whole way. Walking over the small pebbles on the trail felt like I was getting a constant foot rub. And nearly everyone on the trail stopped me to ask what those “funny-looking shoes” were!

The best part? We were staying down in Bright Angel with some friends who work in the park as rangers and EMTs, and even they were impressed and curious about my KSOs. The first question was usually how my feet felt (great!), and the second question was “You hiked all the way down here in those?!?” After confirming that, yes, I did hike all the way down in them, they all said that they were definitely going to look into getting a pair. I ended up impressing some park rangers – who are all professional gear-heads – and had an amazing hike. I can’t wait to continue my KSO National Park tour.