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Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Dunham Alcatraz > Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd > Long Term Report
The Dunham Alcatraz shoes are a
lightweight trail shoe designed to be optimally used in wet
conditions. For details about the design of the shoe and its fit,
see my Initial Report. For details of my early experiences, see my
Field Report. During the Long Term Testing
period I have put at least 150 additional miles (242 km) of
measured distance on the Waffle Stomper Alcatraz shoes, on top of the
130 miles (209 km) during the Field Testing period . Once
again, 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 lightweight summer load and
dayhiking with a small hydration pack. In the rest of my
report, I will refer to the total of 280 trail miles (451 km) put on these
shoes, however, there are numerous 'around town' unmeasured miles put on
these shoes as well. Shortly after the Field Report was
posted I had my first bad experience with the Dunham Alcatraz shoes, which
likely stemmed from the fact that the tread on the shoes (the Waffle
pattern) has worn away significantly. I was on a 20 mile (32
km) overnight hike in Hetch Hetchy, through varied terrain, much
of it on smooth granite. On hike in I observed a slippery
segment of the trail, even mentioning 'watch out for the slick rock' to my
hiking companions. On the way out I was tired and at the exact same
spot I slipped, skinning my knee and hands (and tragically crushing my bag
of dried fruit - fortunately dried cherries taste just as good in the
squished form as they do in their normal form). I hiked slowly
and cautiously for the remaining 5+ miles (8+ km), nervous (and still
jittery from my fall) that each foot placement would send me tumbling into
San Francisco's water supply. Granted, the rock was slick, but it
was also dry and not dust covered, and I would expect a good trail shoe to
keep traction on such terrain. I divide blame equally between
my distracted state of mind and the shoes. The following weekend was an
easy overnight hike, about seven miles round trip. Again the
terrain varied from forest duff to granite and other volcanic rock.
We camped on granite outcropping and did a bit of scrambling around to
gather firewood and explore the area. The Alcatraz
shoes were comfortable the whole time and gave me no troubles, though
I was still being extra cautious on slippery granite due to the previous
weekend's experience. Approximately a month after the Field
Report, and at about the 200 mile (322 km) mark on the shoes, I noticed
the 'cushiness' fading rapidly. Running in them became a little more
uncomfortable as the padding was deteriorating. I have continued to
run and hike in them for another 50 miles (81 km) or so, but they have not
been as comfortable as at the beginning, and I feel this the most after a
run on paved trail. The deteriorating padding is less noticeable on
unpaved trail, although after an 11 mile (18 km) dayhike on soft redwood
forest floor I was feeling the lack of cushioning and my feet were
unexpectedly sore. The last hike I took in the Alcatraz was a 6 mile (10 km)
cross country hike in Death Valley, and perhaps the most difficult
terrain I had put the shoe through. In retrospect, it was not the
best shoe to wear on this hike, but it gave me a good idea on the
deterioration of the shoe after over 280 miles (451 km) of
demanding use. The photo below shows me hiking in the terrain -
the rocks in this particular photo are all about grapefruit sized and very
pointy. Our destination was the gap to the right of the
reddest rock in the photo, and the terrain was like this most of
the way. I expected to feel the rocks poke through the relatively thin and
unprotected side of the lightweight shoe as my feet twisted and slid
through the terrain, but I was surprised at how much I could feel through
the sole, which had up until then been sturdy and protective of my feet
when on rough terrain. Overall I have no complaints about the actual fit or comfort of the
shoe. When the shoe was new and had fewer miles on them they
performed quite well and my feet were happy. The problems I had were
only after I put a number of miles on them. I wish that I got more
mileage out of them, but I have been really rough on them and can't really
complain. So, after six months and over 300 total miles (483 km) I have
reached a pretty strong opinion about these shoes. With the
extremely demanding hikes and terrain I have put them through, the
Alcatraz performed very well for about the first 200 miles (322
km). After the 200 mile (322 km) mark the padding of
the sole, the Waffle Stomper tread, and stitching all began
to deteriorate quickly. I will not be wearing these shoes for
hiking or running anymore, but this is simply because I've worn them
out. If I hadn't liked them to begin with, I never would have put
these many miles on them!
Read more reviews of Dunham gear Read more gear reviews by Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd Reviews > Footwear > Trail Shoes > Dunham Alcatraz > Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd > Long Term Report | |||||||||||||
On the Death Valley hike we were
looking for Red Wall canyon, which was about 2.5 miles (4 km) from
the closest place to leave the car. This left 2.5 miles (4 km) and
1000 ft (205 m) of vertical gain of hiking across the Death Valley
floor. It was a hike up the washes of an alluvial fan, and the
terrain ranged from tiny gravel to microwave sized rocks, and the average
rock size was about that of a cantalope, but much more
jagged. Running through this uneven terrain were hundreds of
washes, cacti, and bushes. It was a difficult hike
and I felt the rocks through the shoe quite a bit.
The sharp midsized rocks that were impossible to avoid walking
over poked my feet uncomfortably through the sole and the
shoe provided little protection from them. At the end of the
hike (after exploring the canyon of course we had to walk back
down the alluvial fan) my feet were extremely sore. For
the rest of my Death Valley hikes, which were even more difficult
than this one, I switched to a more protective pair of leather
boots.