[pct-l] I loved those boots, man.

[Greg Hummel <ghummel@hydrogenburner.com>]

My 2 cents on boots:

I used a lightweight pair of boots up to the Sierras.  They tore apart my
feet at the ball, sometimes blisters three deep with the deepest full of
blood.  At the advice of an oldtimer, I cut these off, cleanly drained
them, washed them in antiseptic, filled them with neosporin and bandaged
them.  In two days they were dry, tough and rapidly repairing.  Clearly the
boots were to blame, but I was too stupid or stubborn to recognize this at
the time.

Thru the Sierras I wore a pair of Vasques, I forget the model, heavy weight
all leather uppers, steel shank, about three and a half pounds each! For
the price I paid in weight I never had another serious problem with my
feet.  When I placed the boot down it felt like it wouldn't, couldn't tip
over, slip, wobble or shake, I MEAN SOLID.  Kicking steps in hard snow was
a breeze.  Several times accidents occurred that should have resulted in a
turned ankle that the boots prevented from happening.  Basically, this type
of boot provides a platform that you can support your entire weight on just
a corner.

A little old lady sitting next to me in Yosemite Valley suggested that I
shouldn't be bare foot.  I replied that I had just walked from the Mexican
border to get there and I would be damned if I was going to wear three and
a half pounds of leather on my feet when it's 75 degrees out!  She didn't
make any other suggestions.

After the Sierras, I had planned to ship these out and change back into a
new light weight pair of boots.  However, the Vasques had become so
comfortable that I guess I just never got around to it.  The soles got thin
in Washington, but it didn't matter much in the mud.  I remember feeling
small pebbles thru them at the end of the hike.  So these soles lasted for
about 2,000 miles!

I had them resoled and used them in field geology courses and then in
business.  One day I stepped off of a short ledge of glass like rock
(dolomite) and accidentally caught a heal on a sharp ridge.  The ridge cut
through the leather from the sole to the lip along my achilles tendon and
missed cutting into me by a fraction of a hair.  I'm not an overly
emotional guy but seeing my good friend so damaged brought tears to my eyes
and all of the trials it helped me overcome came flooding back through my
mind.  A cobbler in Bishop fixed them though, replacing the outer and inner
layer and sewing up the main middle layer of leather around the back of the
boot. He understood the nearly religious feelings I had for them and did a
great job.  The uppers finally wore out after a trip in the Sacramento
Mountains of southern New Mexico.

I don't work for Vasque, although I did ask them for an endorsement prior
to the hike, which they nicely rejected.

If I was going to hike this year (Oh, God I wish!) I would do the same
except get a better pair of light weight boots to start with and go back to
a light weight pair from around Tahoe on.

Good luck '99ers!

Greg "Strider" Hummel
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