These weren't just any hiking boots - they were all leather Italian Zamberlans with Vibram soles. In my mind, these were, like, the hot fudge sundae of hiking boots. They kicked, well, you know. . . .The boots were tough to break in. I remember quarter-sized blisters on both my heels, pressure points on my ankles, and chafing at the spot where the cuff of the boot tightened around my lower calf. But once broken in, these boots were the best.
I've had them longer than I've known Mike, possibly longer than I've known Miso.
They've been hiking, backpacking, and after-ski wearing in:
Montana
Hawaii
Massachusetts
California
Oregon
Washington
Idaho
Colorado
Wyoming
Vermont
New Hampshire
Virginia
Maine
British Columbia
Alberta
Japan
Australia
New Zealand
France
Switzerland
They've had a good, long, full life. No boots could ever ask for more.
I wore out the original insoles, and I wore out the original laces.
But all good things must come to end. And the end has been long in coming; it is entirely possible that the boots needed to be replaced two years ago. The breaking point came last summer after our backpacking trip. I ended the trip with purple nail polish. Except it wasn't nail polish. The boots had finally reached the end of their life and now I was bleeding under my toe nails. Yes, it hurt. A lot.
But it was still with a heavy heart that I went to REI. They were so good, for so long.
R.I.P.
3 comments:
Wow...such good memories of you wearing those boots around Swells in the winter.
I can't remember you without them. But I do remember you helping me to buy good Italian leather hiking boots at REI in Seattle your first year there, which I guess would have been fall of 2000 or spring of 2001. You are the boot maven, and I still have mine. They'll take me up Adirondack peaks this summer.
I hope you got some fine new boots for new adventures! The old ones will be much missed.
P.S. Re: bleeding under toenail: yuck, but also, my ski boot made my toenail bleed this year. Quite disturbing. I still have purple nail polish, two months later.
I actually tried on so many boots that I got a blister on finger from cinching boot laces over and over again.
I did get some nice new boots in the end, though. When I put them on, they were just so soft and supportive - compared to the hard worn-down footbed of the old boots.
Best to avoid the free purple nail polish look. Not sure this is always possible, though.
sad, but you can visit them the next time you are here:
http://www.clantongang.com/oldwest/boothill.html
MD
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