Breaking in the new boots

A few days before Christmas there was a pretty amazing deal on Seirra Trading Post for hiking boots. They had them in my size and I needed a pair, so I ordered them writing it off as a present to myself. The boots are Asolo Fugitive Gore-Tex® Hiking Boots. And boy are they sweet. They were shipped to my parents house a few days before Christmas and my mom decided that she would add them to the gifts from Santa. Yes, free hiking boots. The only stipulation was that I had to wait until Christmas morning to open them. I wore them all day long.

Finally I had some time to check out a local hiking spot. A trail that I have driven past thousands of times without knowing that it existed. This would be The Rachel Carson Trail. A trail that winds 35.7 miles in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh. I only did a few miles on it today but am anxious to explore it more.  Thinking that this stretch will be good for winter night hikes after work, it was good to investigate on such a mild day.

The boots felt really great. Deep tread outsoles held nicely on wet inclines and gave great stability on stream crossings. The waterproof GorTex held up nicely on the half dozen stream crossings I made on Crouse Run.

After reading an article in Backpacker Mag on proper lace technique, I decided to give it a try.

The middle lace points are twisted over to add a point that will not slip. You can see this on the left boot.


 

After getting laced up it was time to get down the trail.

I'm looking to put a few more miles on them tomorrow beside a stream that holds wild trout.











beer