Besides Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 recommendation in her song; what kind of boots would we recommend to hike the Frisia Coast Trail? The combination of a flat and often hard surface will have its toll when walkin' the trail. In this blog post we discuss what kind of footwear is (not) suitable.
It is important to realize that the only ascents and descents of more than two meters that you are going to encounter during the 1,000 miles of the Frisia Coast Trail are manmade. It might be a bridge, a sluice, a dyke, a terp, or a former thing site like the Upstalsboom near the town of Aurich in the region of Ostfriesland.
Dunes are the exception and are not man-made, most of the time at least. Some dunes are actually dykes. For example south of the village of Petten and on the island of Texel in the province of Noord Holland. Dunes along the North Sea coast can reach heights of 20 meters, if you are lucky. The highest point of the entire trail is at the dunes of Schoorl in the Netherlands, a frightening 52 meters above mean sea level. The dunes at the southwest coast of Walcheren in the province of Zeeland are formidable as well. The highest point of former Frisia is, however, the island of Heligoland in the region of Nordfriesland. Far at the North Sea. Its red rocks reach 61 meters above the sea.
Every hiker knows, walking on flat terrain is the opposite of easy. It is a killer for your legs and feet. The risk of getting blisters is high. Walking with a backpack on flat terrain can also harm your back and neck. But the flatness is not the only challenging factor. Despite its nickname 'Milky Way,' the Frisia Coast Trail's surface is far from milky. Often, you will be walking on a non-elastic surface as well. Again, every hiker knows: nothing hurts more than a constant hard surface like tarmac or grit. The risk of getting blisters skyrockets, and the continuous pounding on your heels is excruciating. No, mountains with rough, barely visible, uneven paths would be better for the muscles and skin. But unfortunately, they are absent.
So, what to wear?
1. Ancient Option
The Frisians west of the River Lauwers, in the ancient pagus ‘territory’ Oostergo in the province of Friesland, of the fifth century wore thin, elegant leather shoes. Very specific, rich design for this area. Maybe inspired by the Romans. But their inspiration might have come from beyond distant sea horizons, since for centuries the people of this region were notorious pirates, read our blog post Our civilization - It all began with piracy.
These leather shoes were suitable for a soft surface like wet clay, grasslands, and salt marshes. They were made of one piece of leather and had no separate sole, and there was no ankle support either. Everything was as soft as Bask espadrilles. Of course, you may choose this type of footwear for your hike, but it provides little protection for the continuous thudding on your heels on the solid underground of today’s paths along the coasts. They might still be an option when walking through the salt marshes and tidal mudflats, though, or for the long soft-grassy stretches on top of the dykes along the Wadden Sea coast, along the Lake IJsselmeer, and on top of the many river dykes more inland.
A very similar shoe dated fourth/fifth century has been found near the village of Westerholt in the region of Ostfriesland, close the Wadden Sea coast as well (Bärenfänger 2004).
2. Classic Option
Another, classic, option would be the not-so-elegant clogs or clumps. These have lost a lot of their popularity the last hundred years or so, but you can still see people wearing clogs. Especially at the countryside. Although traditional believe is that clogs are good for growing feet of children, clogs hardly can be an option to hike the 1,000 miles of the Frisia Coast Trail. Yes, the parents of the author of this blog post made him walk in clogs too when he had the age between 4 and 5 years. Besides, there is a Dutch saying Nu breekt mijn klomp ‘now breaks my clog’ expressing the moment when everything suddenly falls apart. Well, picture walking on clogs and one breaks. It is really a showstopper. Therefore, clogs would not be our first pick.
But if you do take clogs, you still have a choice to make. Do you buy the black, the yellow or non-painted natural version? Know that yellow-painted clogs used to be reserved for the posh merchants. Black ones for sober farmers. Non-painted ones for the poor grey masses. Your pick will say a lot.
If you think we are just making things up about people hiking on clogs, check this serious websites Klompenpaden ‘clog paths’. Who is laughing now?
Lastly, if you think clogs are out of place on the (former) marshlands, know the use of clogs traceably dates back to the Migration Period. During the excavations in the '90s of the spectacular gravefields of Fallward in Land Wursten, Germany, a set of clogs was part of the finds. For more about the Wurt ('terp') Fallward excavations, read our blog post The Deer Hunter of Fallward, and his Throne of the Marsh.
3. Modern Option
That brings us to modern materials. Basically you can choose between the more sturdy, leather boots or the lightweight, synthetic running shoes. The first do and the latter do not give ankle support. We would say the running shoes would probably be the more preferred option for the Frisia Coast Trail. No real ankle support is needed anyway and the terrain and paths are not rough, so a sturdy sole is not needed either. It is a sea-coast trail so rain can occur during any time of year. Running shoes dry quicker. And, when walking the mud flats of the Wadden Sea this type of shoe is very suitable and common as well. You won’t look silly. Try to select those that give as much elasticity as possible for your heels.
4. Epilogue
The early-medieval leather shoe depicted above is part of a collection of thirteen typical terp-area shoes from the terp (i.e. artificial settlement mounds) villages of Ferwerd, Finkum and Hallum in the territory Oostergo in the province of Friesland. All dating around AD 500. They are unique since no real parallels have been found in surrounding areas. This might have to do with a different technique of tanning which ensured a better conservation. Maybe a technique introduced by immigrants, perhaps from northern Germany, who settled at the empty tidal marshlands at the beginning of the fifth century (Driel-Murray & Van der Plicht 2016, Betten 2018). Besides the elegant shoes, the also elegant brooches (also fibulae) were introduced in the same period. So, it might indicate a change or even replacement of culture.
Furthermore, these shoes were probably all worn by men since women and children (like elsewhere in Europe) only started to wear shoes from the High Middle Ages. Having said that, walking barefoot was perhaps the norm, including for men, on the salt marsh. A tradition that existed still in the nineteenth century on the Hallig islands in the region of Nordfriesland (Knol 2021).
Note – If interested in the mythical times of the Migration Period read also our blog post about legendary King Finn Folcwaldin of Frisia.
Suggested music
Nancy Sinatra, These boots are made for walkin' (1966)
Further reading
Bärenfänger, R., Organische Funde aus der spätkaiserzeitlichen Siedlung bei Westerholt, Ldkr. Wittmund (2004)
Betten, E., Terpen- en Wierdenland (2018)
Driel-Murray, D. van & Plicht, van der H., Het gelijk van Boeles: schoenvondsten uit de Friese terpen (2016)
Knol, E., For Daily Use and Special Moments: Material Culture in Frisia, AD 400-1000 (2021)
Peek, C., Hüser, A. & Meier, U.M., Die Gräber der Fallward. Ausstellung im Museum Burg Bederkesa (2022)