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Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Dunham Alcatraz > Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd > Field Report
During the Field Testing period I have
put at least 130 miles/209 km of measured distance on the Waffle
Stomper Alcatraz shoes. The miles were split nearly evenly between
running and hiking. The running was both on-pavement and
on-trail. The hiking was both backpacking with a full summer load
(~20 lbs/9 kg) and dayhiking with a small hydration pack. Running conditions: Hiking use: 2. Dayhiking Butano State Park: This
was a 13 mile/21 km geocaching dayhike through a state park north of
Santa Cruz. Most of the trails are wide dirt-road style in and out
of open grassy areas and dark drippy redwood forest. This hike
included some off trail exploration through said forests. The
maintained road/trail included several steep hills, both up and
down. 4. Muir Beach Dayhike:
This was a quick and enjoyable hike along the Pacific Coast north of San
Francisco. Before the short hike I got the shoes a bit wet by
playing in the irresistible waves of the ocean. 5. Black Mountain: A local
staple, Black Mountain is just out my front door. My husband and I
hike this trail occasionally since it is close, enjoyable, and a good
workout. In approximately a 10 mile/16 km round trip the trail
gains about 2500 feet /762 m and tops out on Black Mountain. Most of
the hike has nice views of the South Bay (Silicon Valley), and the last
mile is steep and strenuous. I like taking gear out on this trail
for 'trial runs', but by the time I got the Alcatraz out there they were
already quite broken in. I wanted to see how the shoes performed on
the very steep and slippery (due to loose gravel) trail. 6. Dayhike from Mosquito Flat toward
Bear Creek Spire, East Sierra. This dayhike of about 6 miles/10 km
afforded a real test for these shoes, with a good off-trail
scramble. This hike was a perfect combination of easy smooth trail
and difficult Sierra rocky terrain. See photo below for
the rock chute that was easily navigated with the Alcatraz
shoes. Comfort Comfort is by far the most important
thing to me when it comes to footwear. Rather than use a single
trail shoe that is designed for use in many conditions, I prefer having a
large selection of comfortable footwear than I can choose from for the
particular trail for which I need them. For example, on hot sunny
days when I wish to move on a fast dayhike on well-maintained trails, I
pick sandals because they are most comfortable for me in those
conditions. And although my heavy waterproof boots are comfortable
for snowshoeing, they aren't as comfortable in those sandal-preferred
conditions (and vice-versa!) One of my questions going into
this test was if these shoes are most comfortable in certain conditions
and do they fill a specific niche in my repertoire of trail
shoes? As a running shoe the Alcatraz
shoes are very comfortable. They've got a good amount of cushioning
and spring and my feet feel very good after a jog around the neighborhood
or through the local park's maintained trails. This has become my
favorite use for these shoes - they are just as lightweight and
comfortable as an average trail runner, but with more robust features,
making them capable of handling rougher terrain than a normal trail
runner. However, the shoes have limitations with regard to
terrain. After long hikes on steep terrain I
notice pinching in my three outer toes. My big toe and second toe
have plenty of room, but the shoe is narrow enough in the upper section
that my three other toes pinch together a bit tighter than their natural
position. My toes splay out quite a bit because of the amount of
time I spend barefoot and in sandals, and they definitely feel confined
after my feet have swelled during a hike. The three
day backpack in Emigrant Wilderness led to a small amount of
blistering in my right foot after some downhill mileage on steep
trail, and one of these blisters formed in an unfortunate location - under
the top of the toe and toenail of my third toe. Consequently, the
blister healed and the dead skin peeled off, taking the toenail with
it. I always try to tighten my shoes before extended downhill hikes
to avoid this particular problem (which I've had many times), but the
Alcatraz were already as tight as they could be worn comfortably.
Functionality In addition to draining water quickly,
the materials that make up the Alcatraz dry very quickly. On the
backpacking trip in Emigrant the shoes got very dusty and dirty, so after
setting up camp next to a lake I decided to take a swim to clean myself
and my clothes off. My synthetic hiking clothing, pack towel, and
Alcatraz shoes got thoroughly rinsed in the water then left out in
the sun to dry. The shoes were the last to dry, but it was on the
same time scale as the rest of the items. I was extremely impressed
with how fast they dried - and to think that I was initially worried that
they'd still be wet the next morning. It ended up being no concern
at all! I need to learn how to pair socks with
these shoes. I've run into a problem where the shoes dry but
the socks don't, resulting in a blister on the ball of my foot. This
happened once, after plowing through a stream crossing in Lyell Canyon
without bothering to attempt to avoid the water. The shoes
dried impressively fast, but the merino wool socks I had on sucked up so
much water they didn't dry in the four miles to camp. This was
stupid of me - I should have stopped about 15 minutes after the stream
crossing, once the shoes had drained most moisture, and put on a dry pair
of socks. Because of this, the blister on the bottom of my foot made
for a painful hike out the next day. This isn't the shoe's fault -
this is my fault for feeling invincible with regards to stream crossings
in the Alcatraz shoes. In the above picture I was playing in
the waves of the Pacific Ocean before a short hike along the coast.
In this case I was wearing a pair of light cotton running
socks. They got wet along with the shoes, but they didn't hold as
much water as the merino wool hiking socks I had been wearing in
Lyell. My feet were much more comfortable this time. The Waffle Stomper sole has been
excellent for grip on all kinds of terrain. On the dayhike from
Mosquito Flat toward Bear Creek Spire last weekend, I was very confident
in the ability of these shoes to grip while making my way through a chute
of tennis ball to Volkswagen sized boulders. I was able to
confidently work my way through the complicated terrain thanks in large
part to the sole. They have also done quite well while jogging down
steep and gravelly trail - the kind of trail I usually have to take more
slowly. Durability Well, as I said in my Field
Conditions section above, some trails in the Sierra can "eat a good pair
of shoes up in no time." The Alcatraz survived several miles of
Sierra hiking, but they definitely show battle
wounds. Most damage and wear that I've observed on these
shoes came directly from hiking on rough
trails. Other damage includes that typical
'chewed up' look that old athletic shoes get. The sides are quite
scratched up from hiking in rocky terrain, and the top material is snagged
in a few places from the same trails. There is one insignificant
area where a seam has started to come loose around the top of the lacing,
but it isn't a concern to me. I love how I can toss these in a sink
and rinse them out, and they are dry and ready to go running a
few hours later. I've been able to keep them cleaner than my normal
hiking boots because I'm perfectly comfortable doing this after a
particularly dusty or muddy hike. Other than the rocky trail damage
they look quite nice, especially considering the number of miles I've put
on them. Conclusions and Future
Testing The only problems I had with these
shoes were on rough and steep terrain, with regards to comfort (blisters)
and durability (rocks damaging the shoes). In other cases,
especially trail running, I have been very happy with the performance
of the Alcatraz shoes. I've found that these shoes shine on
maintained trails without excessively steep grades. Since this is
the case in almost all places that I prefer for trail running, these have
found their niche - they are my perfect trailrunner. I wouldn't run
on the types of trails on which I've had problems with these
shoes, so I've determined that if I'd feel comfortable trail running a
particular trail, the Dunham Alcatraz would be an excellent choice for my
footwear. For the rougher trails I will likely go back to some of my
more robust footwear (such as my Waffle Stomper Nimbles). This is
for the benefit of my feet, as well as to extend the life of the
shoes. During the Long Term test phase I will
continue to wear these as my primary trail shoe except on the rougher
trails. I am curious if they stay as comfortable as they currently
are, or if the cushioning will break down. Also, how many more miles
will the sole hold up? Will any of the damage wear down
further? I've enjoyed the places these shoes
have taken me this summer, and I look forward to discovering where they'll
take me in the future.
Read more reviews of Dunham gear Read more gear reviews by Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Dunham Alcatraz > Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd > Field Report | |||||||||||||
1. Backpacking the John Muir Trail in Lyell Canyon,
Yosemite National park: A 16 mile/26 km round trip overnight
backpack in Yosemite. Hiking through Lyell Canyon is very unlike
hiking the rest of the Sierra. Lyell is a wide and flat meadow that
extends for several miles out of Tuolumne Meadows. The Lyell fork of
the river meanders through the meadow, making for an extremely easy hike
with incredibly rewarding views. This is as easy as it gets in the
Sierra. On this weekend in late July there were some minor stream
crossings which allowed me to try out the water capabilities of the
Alcatraz shoes. See photo to the left for an example of the
trail conditions.
3.
Backpacking in Emigrant Wilderness. This was roughly 27
miles/43 km over three days in terrain much more typical to Sierra
conditions than Lyell Canyon. The trails are often rough, pack-train
damaged paths through granite. Trail like this can eat a good pair
of shoes up in no time. See photo to the right for an example of
these more typical Sierra conditions. 
A prominent feature of the Alcatraz
shoes is their water-handling capabilities. The drainage
channels do an excellent job at evacuating water quickly and
efficiently after a dunk in the water. I've had to wade through mud
and dust and the mesh holes have never clogged, nor have they let in any
noticeable amount of silt or rocks. Of course, this also means that
if debris gets inside the shoe it doesn't drain like the water - it gets
trapped inside. I've found that debris sometimes gets in through the
loop behind the heel.
What I've tried to show in the picture to the left is
the wear on the Waffle Stomper tread. On the front end of
the shoe these 'waffles' have worn away quite a bit. The
tread depth has worn down significantly, almost even with
the flat part of the sole right at the top. The heel
section is in much better shape with very little wear. I
actually expect that this wear came from running on pavement three times a
week - the wear is consistent with where I push off with my toes when I
run.
The rest
of the damage is difficult to capture on camera, and all happened on the
last two hikes in the Sierra, in Emigrant and by Bear Creek Spire.
At once point, my foot was wedged by a rock and the rock poked one of the
mesh drainage channels a bit loose. It has pulled away slightly from
the bottom stitching. In the picture to the right the damage isn't
visible, but there is a bit of a waviness to the material since it isn't
taut anymore.