I love shoes. I really don't know many women who don't. A few, but seriously, not many. In my closet there are plenty of shoes in a variety of colors and styles - from tennis shoes to cowboy boots, stiletto heels, and tactical boots! Not all of the shoes in my closet are comfortable - afterall, sometimes how you look is more important than how you feel - as long as there's not a lot of walking involved! One thing I can say about most of the shoes and boots in my closet - with the exception of the cowboy boots and tactical boots - they weren't expensive. I see no good reason to spend a lot of money, even if I had it, on something I may wear twice a year. The two pairs of hiking boots that I already had weren't more than about $40 at a local mass market sporting goods store, and they were never a good fit in the store - but I figured I'd break them in and it would all be ok. I couldn't have been more wrong. I found that out the hard way that quality - which translates to higher dollars - is of vital importance when it comes to hiking boots, and I'm grateful I found out on a neighborhood hike, not a long hike where I had no choice but to push on and deal with the pain. Immediately after our local hike, which wasn't more than about three miles long, I took off my inexpensive boots and could see that I had red hot-spots, and what would have turned to blisters if we had been on a longer hike. I had places around my ankles that were starting to chafe, which I suppose could have been the cotton socks I was wearing, and how tightly I had them laced, but whatever the reason, this wasn't something that was going to work.
I made a few phone calls and we decided that we'd head into town and visit Sports Haus. I wish they had a website link that I could post here, but they unfortunately don't. The woman I spoke with on the phone was very helpful, offered a few different suggestions for brands - none of which I knew anything about, though I'd heard some of the names from R. We were primarily going to shop for him a pair of boots - I don't think even at this point I was convinced that I needed a pair of new boots. Part of my brain was still convinced that I could just break in the old ones better. We walked into the store and my eyes were opened to a whole new world of shoe and boot possibilities! There were boots and shoes everywhere. They had every square inch of this store stuffed to the gills with wonderful things to see, try on and consider! I was there to observe R getting some boots. The woman remembered our conversation, his size, the brands he was looking for and even the discussion we'd had about his ankle injury from some years before. I've never had a sales person actually remember details I told them in person for longer than a split second, much less from a phone call hours earlier! Amazing! While she was preparing to help him, size his feet and actually offer him true customer service, I decided on a whim to look at some boots myself. I told the woman helping R that I thought I'd look at some boots too, afterall, I was here, right? and she immediately called another woman over to help me - we each got our own individual customer service person! I was wearing very thin cotton socks though, so the first thing I decided to do was shop for a pair of socks. A girl can always use new socks.
Once I picked myself up off of the floor after seeing the PRICE of the hiking socks, and wandering back and forth looking for socks that didn't cost more than I've ever spent on my whole sock inventory, I took a deep breath, swallowed the lump in my throat and picked out what turns out to be the most amazing pair of socks I've ever had on my feet. Heck I will go so far as to say that these are more comfortable than any cozy slippers I've had on my feet! I picked out a couple pairs of boots, explained to the lady assigned to help me, pulled off my socks and slipped my feet into these socks - FEETURES they are called. Oh - My - Gosh!!! Seriously! I've never felt any socks like these socks.
They are made of a lovely combination of merino wool and bamboo. They somehow manage to feel warm and cool at the same time, and the cushion under my feet felt like it was energizing my toes! I'm not exaggerating. Amazing. Ok, if I had to spend nearly $20 on a pair of socks, they rightfully should make my feet feel like dancing. We were off to a great start. (you can find these at
www.feeturesbrand.com but they are also on other hiking/camping supply sites so shop around for the best prices - I'm finding that the average price is what we paid - $17.99 plus tax).
The sales associate brought out three pairs of boots, the two pairs I picked out, and one more for comparison. They explained to me what the different types of boots were for, the differences in insoles, ankle support, flexibility of the boot and sole, what the different flexibilities are for, etc. The mind boggled! Who knew? I put on the pair she brought out first, and they were fine boots, but they felt a bit funny around the toes. Cross that pair off the list of possibilities. If it isn't comfortable immediately, it's not a good idea to spend the money on it - it'll just lead to misery later. The 2nd pair I put on were so comfortable that I felt like I could take off and hike right that moment. The third and final boots were also wonderful, but they were a bit more aggressive than what I need at this point in my immediate hiking plans, so I made the decision to part with the money and bought this pair of Merrell Siren mid-level hiking boots.
They had a good, moderately knobby tread on the Vibram soles, are waterproof and incredibly comfortable. These boots are ideal for me, as I am a beginner to hiking and I know at this point I will be carrying a relatively light pack, and the hikes we go on will be for people with beginner to moderate hiking abilities. I know I'd still have to break them in, but they felt so good already that even without wearing them out of the store they were more comfortable than my other boots were after several trips to the mountains to hunt for Christmas trees. R went with a more aggressive and sturdier pair of boots, as he already has a mid-weight pair. He's been hiking for some time and the boots he chose are going to transition well to the hikes with much higher difficulty levels, even to the higher alpine hikes that would require crampons, and the heavier loads he will be carrying, even on the hikes with me.
Now that I have this amazing pair of boots and socks, I'm excited to get the rest of the gear together and hit the trails! Now THERE'S something nobody would have heard me say just a couple years ago!
They are made of a lovely combination of merino wool and bamboo. They somehow manage to feel warm and cool at the same time, and the cushion under my feet felt like it was energizing my toes! I'm not exaggerating. Amazing. Ok, if I had to spend nearly $20 on a pair of socks, they rightfully should make my feet feel like dancing. We were off to a great start. (you can find these at www.feeturesbrand.com but they are also on other hiking/camping supply sites so shop around for the best prices - I'm finding that the average price is what we paid - $17.99 plus tax).
The sales associate brought out three pairs of boots, the two pairs I picked out, and one more for comparison. They explained to me what the different types of boots were for, the differences in insoles, ankle support, flexibility of the boot and sole, what the different flexibilities are for, etc. The mind boggled! Who knew? I put on the pair she brought out first, and they were fine boots, but they felt a bit funny around the toes. Cross that pair off the list of possibilities. If it isn't comfortable immediately, it's not a good idea to spend the money on it - it'll just lead to misery later. The 2nd pair I put on were so comfortable that I felt like I could take off and hike right that moment. The third and final boots were also wonderful, but they were a bit more aggressive than what I need at this point in my immediate hiking plans, so I made the decision to part with the money and bought this pair of Merrell Siren mid-level hiking boots. 
They had a good, moderately knobby tread on the Vibram soles, are waterproof and incredibly comfortable. These boots are ideal for me, as I am a beginner to hiking and I know at this point I will be carrying a relatively light pack, and the hikes we go on will be for people with beginner to moderate hiking abilities. I know I'd still have to break them in, but they felt so good already that even without wearing them out of the store they were more comfortable than my other boots were after several trips to the mountains to hunt for Christmas trees. R went with a more aggressive and sturdier pair of boots, as he already has a mid-weight pair. He's been hiking for some time and the boots he chose are going to transition well to the hikes with much higher difficulty levels, even to the higher alpine hikes that would require crampons, and the heavier loads he will be carrying, even on the hikes with me.
Now that I have this amazing pair of boots and socks, I'm excited to get the rest of the gear together and hit the trails! Now THERE'S something nobody would have heard me say just a couple years ago!
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