Vasque-ing in the Glory

This weekend could easily be considered the most crucial of all when planning a trip that consists of traversing a large array of mountains. Why you might ask?? Simple. Footwear. Footwear is the most vital part of all hiking. If you don’t have good footwear and take care of your feet you trip will end prematurely. What you have on your feet can determine the outcome of your trip and your experience. If not taken properly care of your, your feet can cause you to be in utter pain. If you do not size your shoe correctly and plan for feet swelling then you are going to make an ill advised buy.


Before I go any further I would just like to give a shout out to Kevin from REI. This sales associate fetched me shoe after shoe for two straight days. Wait, two days, you ask? Yup, I’ll explain in a sec. However, Kevin listened to all my needs and repeatedly went back and grabbed more shoes. Did I want a boot? Did I want a trail runner (sneaker like)? Not only did he have to run to the back for almost every model of hiking shoe but he also had to grab both 11 ½ and 12’s. So Kevin, thanks buddy for your patience and your help.

Now, back to my shoe selection. After nearly an hour of trying on shoes and walking on the rock incline/decline platform (it’s supposed to simulate steep inclines and declines you might face on a mountain) I settled on a shoe called the Garmont Eclipse 3. This is not a boot but not a trail runner either. It’s more or less a tweener (in between), almost like a cross trainer. It seemed to fit my narrow foot well enough so I paid the $125 and raced home. The first thing I did was go online and start reading the reviews. The first review I read said something like “too rough on my foot.” The second review was along the lines of “gave me blisters.” The third review said “felt good in the store but did not do so well on the hike.” Well, this could not be good, I thought to myself. So, I went to trailjournals.com and did a search for these shoes to see who used them in their AT (remember what AT is boys and girls?) hike. The first five or so journals I read that had these shoes in them went as follows: “fell apart,” “got rid of them as soon as possible,” “fell apart,” “poorly put together,” “gave my feet blisters.” Uh oh, it doesn’t look like I made a good choice. But, since I just paid the money I wanted to see for myself so I loaded up ole Chooch (my dog, Charlie) and we tested out the shoes. Yeah, um, I made it .75 miles. That’s right ¾ of a mile and my feet were hurting. Yeah, not gonna work for me. Thanks Garmont but no thanks.

So, whatever do I do in such a situation??? Easy, I went back today and returned them. This is the great part of being in Texas and trying to plan an AT hike. If you’re a member of REI, which I am, then you can return whatever you buy without a receipt for a full refund. You can try out your new kicks (shoes) and if you don’t like them you can return….which is promptly what I did. So, meeting Kevin again at the shoe area I was determined that I wanted trail runners. After several hours of intensive research on the internet last night I came to the conclusion that I am better suited for trail runners. You see, I have had boots before for various other hiking trips but I do not think my feet and boots get along. I have done a lot of walking recently in my regular sneakers (New England word..that’s where I’m from…in Texas they call them Tennis Shoes but since I don’t play Tennis and I am from New England they are going to be called sneakers) and my feet are fine. After another exhaustive hour of trying on shoes I decided on a pair.

And the pair I settled on are called the Vasque Blur. Now, I’m sure there is a veteran thru hiker who is reading this that is either rolling their eyes because of my choice of the Vasque Blur or the fact that I went with trail runners at all. Tough, it’s my feet not yours. If I suffer, you can read all about it on my blog hahahaha. Anywho, they have passed the initial same .75 mile test and nothing to really complain about. I don’t want to wear them out so I am going to only do minimal training with them. However, I plan on heading out to Grapevine next Saturday and hitting the North Shore Trail which is supposed to be 9 miles of woodsy trail. For anyone reading this who is not from Texas doesn’t really understand that a “woodsy” trail is almost non-existent here in the DFW area. I guess I’ll wait until then to make my final decision on all of the footwear shenanigans.

On another note, it’s 59 days until I leave on the Appalachian Trail. In six weeks, I will be jobless and in 7 weeks I will be heading to MD to bring some stuff home to my parents (like Choochie Poochie my dog). This is all happening toooo quickly. By the way, I tried to cancel my cable yesterday. Good ole Direct TV. I feel like I am being scammed. My two year agreement ended last May so I just kept it going month to month thinking I could end it at anytime. Well, my roommate got an HD box which was added to my account of course. Well unbeknownst to us, that puts you in another two year agreement. Boooooooo. On top of that, the dude I was talking to did not believe me that I was going to be in an area where I don’t need cable for six months. He even offered me a portable briefcase satellite dish. Dude, seriously? Ah, no thanks.

Well, that’s all I got. I am starting to see that it’s not as easy as just packing up and leaving town. There’s all this red tape and stuff you gotta do before you can hike. However, once I am done with all of this and on the trail it will be the greatest relief in the world. Then, when I get back on the trail I will marry rich or I will marry a girl that has the same nomadic tendencies. Hahahaha.

As always, I am so blessed by God to be able to do all of this. Remember, live The Example...even when no one is looking. Live for God. One Life is all it takes.

http://www.awalkforthefuture.com/

One Life