Hiking Boots

Today I am talking about and reflecting on hiking boots.

When Scott was about three or four years old (BJ would have been 8 or 9) Bob and I took them to Pilot Mountain in N.C. for a picnic and hiking. Scott did really well in making it to the top of the mountain. Coming down he was pooped, so I carried him piggy back. I was wearing a pair of tennis shoes that were a tad large for me, and with about 40 pounds of wiggly weight on my back, the stress on my knees was more than I realized. The next day I could not walk at all. The doctor told me that the tendons in my knees had moved all around instead of staying in the groove that is meant for them, and inflammation was the result. He suggested hiking boots before doing any more hiking.

Soon after we moved to Atlanta with the plans of hiking, I bought a super duper pair of hiking boots. They were leather, brown, and hearty. Although I didn't do lots of hiking, when I did they did come in handy. My feet got wet only once, and that was on a Boy Scout camping trip with Troop 144. Mud came over the top. And alas, as I grew older, my feet got a bit larger and those did not fit anymore.

About 15 years ago I bought another pair. They were not as expensive as the first pair, and were men's boots. I could not find women's boots to fit me at the time. I used a variety of cushy innersoles and they served me well until I started training for this trip. The boots seemed to aggravate the spot on the ball of my right food and my toes would go numb. So, alas, time for new boots.

At first I was intimidated by even going into REI. Although I knew that would be a good place to look, I had the old, fat, why would they be willing to wait on me, view. When I went in, I found their staff to be helpful and encouraging. In fact, I went to two different REI stores on several occasions, and went to some other sporting goods places before purchasing the ones I got. On one visit, the employee suggested I take the extensive brochure they had available with a list of all the hiking boots they carried and information about them and suggested I research them online to find out what others thought about them. I did that and then went to more places before going to REI and buying a pair that I thought would be my third or fourth choice, but were more comfortable than the others. These were wider across the toes than the others, and I began to see what a difference that would make in long term comfort. They are not the color I wanted. I wanted gray. I don't wear anything in brown anymore. I used to wear a lot of browns, but since my hair has become gray, the browns seem to wash me out. However, these are hiking boots, not evening wear, and form must follow function. These will be functional.

I have had these for about two weeks and have hiked in them at least six times. No blisters because I wear two pair of socks. They are starting to feel like home. My toes went a bit numb today, but I can attribute that to extended my hiking distance by .8 mile and adding hiking time as well, and doing the more challenging section twice.

Life is good!