<p>idad, go to a good sporting goods store and let the nice man help you. The right shoes will probably be expensive, but you only get one pair of feet, and this will probably be the only pair of good hiking boots you’ll buy in your entire life.</p>
<p>In 2006, DH and I were preparing to go to New Zealand to visit S1 (semester abroad). We knew we’d be hiking and climbing mountains, so we didn’t skimp. Probably spent around $150 for each of us. Of course we still have those hiking boots and we wear them when we take the dogs on a loooooooong hike in our 1,000-acre nature preserve. We’ll never wear them out, and our feet feel great.</p>
That’s what I did this afternoon. Took my two pair of socks (thicker and thinner) and my SuperFeet insoles and tried on a bunch of hiking shoes/boots at Eastern Mountain Sports. Merrills, Keens, and a couple of models from a high-end Italian brand, [Asolo[/url</a>]. One of the Asolo models was virtually identical to the LL Bean Cresta Hiker (different Italian bootmaker). The main difference is that Bean sells theirs in narrow and wide widths (I need wide), which EMS doesn’t offer, so if I decide to go “old school”, I’ll probably go with the Bean version. Zappos sells the Asolos in wide widths, but only in one color.
<p>It really depends on what brand has the best last for your feet.
I like The North Face for trail runners, and Lowa for boots that are a little heavier. I’ve also had Vasque one piece full grain leather boots and trail shoes, all well made.
<a href=“http://www.lowaboots.com/catalog/[/url]”>http://www.lowaboots.com/catalog/</a>
Good socks important too. Wool. I also like to get boots that can be used with snowshoes. In dry snow, snow boots can actually get too warm. You might want to keep that as an option.
I rarely need to go anyplace besides REI. [Plus</a> I just like to get a huge dividend ;)](<a href=“http://www.rei.com/]Plus”>http://www.rei.com/)</p>
<p>Ran for 30 min on the treadmill maintaining 8:25 or so pace, then sprinted the last minute @ 6:30 pace. :eek: I need to find a good 5K to run in the fall.</p>
<p>Walking sticks are so useful though. You can check to see how deep a stream/snow/mud is. You can fight off rabid chipmunks & you can use it as a monopod for your camera.
Plus now that I have to use a cane for walking down the street, I at least blend in better on a trail!</p>
<p>In Washington, you are likely to find a trail with at least one or two extended muddy patches, so the more rugged the sole the better. ( although I have also hiked trails with not huge elevation changes with my five fingers)</p>
<p>Yeah, my ghastly red North Face trail running shoes have been great. They’ve been my winter/mud/rain walking shoes for a couple of years now. Way better than the Brooks running shoes for traction on a muddy or wet loop. Plus, they are so damned ugly that little mud is an improvement. I bought them when I was about 240 pounds. But, they’ve just been getting demolished on the rocks. Just from three hikes, bits and pieces are starting to hang off them. Every other step I take on these trails is on a rock.</p>
<p>The Lowa boots look really nice. It seems like the product lines from all the European manufacturers are pretty similar. </p>
<p>I like REI, too. Alas, their closest store is a bit of a haul from here. Down in Burlington, MA. I’ll be darned if I’m going to drive across state lines to pay Mass sales tax after years of driving to NH to avoid it… :)</p>
<p>mathmom:</p>
<p>Yeah, those were the Keens I tried on today. They were super comfortable. I really liked them, even with their sort of “Earth Shoe” vibe. They struck me as maybe half way in between the trail runner sneakers and a heavy duty hiking boot. I really liked the wide toe area and the rubber bumpers all across the toe (I like to stub my toe on roots and rocks!) Keen also makes a low-cut version. The Keens are definite possibility.</p>
<hr>
<p>I was hoping to try on the Beans, but the outlet store near my place only had them in the wrong sizes. It dawned on me that, with free shipping and being able to return them to the local store, it’s basically free for me to try their stuff on at home and either keep it or not. So I ordered a couple of styles of their Italian boots in the two most likely sizes. That will let me compare to the stuff I’ve already tried and go from there.</p>
CJane: I’m with you on schlepping stuff when hiking. I hate it–I try to have the lightest pack possible.
IDad: got my hiking boots at REI. They are Merrills and very comfortable. I think I posted a link in a thread a few months ago. Plus, they’re waterproof. That was key for me. Never tried walking poles.
MOWC: Congrats on your mileage. What’s your next race?
Rained all day yesterday, so my plan for a power walk got postponed. Went to the gym and did 40 minutes on the Cybex machine. Was going to do some weights, but when I got off the machine, I was really tired. Did 30 KB swings and went home. I think the rain made me lazy.
Don’t know how I missed it but those Keens in #18938 are the ones I have I think. And I agree with CJane, it’s the roomy toe area that’s great - my toes getting jammed up in the downhills is what made me decide I needed ankle high boots.
I entered the lottery today for the Flying Monkey Marathon (Nov 18) which is our local “cult” race in the park. It’s impossibly hilly. If I “lose” the lottery (meaning get into the race) I guess I’ll be participating. My only other Monkey was 2009. I will run the Women’s Half Marathon on Sept 22 and I am considering running a pre-Monkey marathon in October sometime. I won’t push it- just participate. Maybe Chattanooga.
Probably a 5K on Labor Day- local race.
When WildChild was about 12 and setting state age-group records in running, we got him some new pajamas at Gap. We were going on a summer vacation to Colorado and I asked him if he had packed them. He said, “No, I’m saving them for Beijing!” Beijing Olympics was many years away at the time. I’ll never forget that.
I had to laugh. No! My mother is very feminine and I don’t think she ever was athletic. I think my grandfather was, and he treated me like a boy (which I wanted) and taught me sports, bought me an Eagles football uniform when I was 5 etc. Both of my parents got polio (before they were married, but at the same time) when they were 19. My father had to leave West Point as a result. My mother walked with canes after that and has been wheelchair bound for many years now. My father had less damage, but had a limp.
<p>We’re on the email list for an outdoors organization that does trail maintenance, etc. A message just came through with calendar items that include an upcoming mountain hike followed by BBQ. Sounds like an iDad type of an event. :-)</p>
You can check to see how deep a stream/snow/mud is. You can fight off rabid chipmunks & you can use it as a monopod for your camera.![http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/morgan2.jpg?t=1343785783]actual](http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/morgan2.jpg?t=1343785783%5Dactual){kind=link}
![http://a1.zassets.com/images/z/7/4/9/74995-p-4x.jpg]Asolo[/url](http://a1.zassets.com/images/z/7/4/9/74995-p-4x.jpg%5DAsolo%5B/url){kind=link}
![http://www.rei.com/media/hh/4440a712-ee6d-4458-bbff-0e1191f2a653.jpg]these[/url](http://www.rei.com/media/hh/4440a712-ee6d-4458-bbff-0e1191f2a653.jpg%5Dthese%5B/url){kind=link}
