Eulogy to My Boots

We met each other out of sheer coincidence. Coincidence guided by a huge discount and sale combined with the fact that my size was in stock.

It was hiking love at first trail, mostly. I suddenly had traction and ankle support. I waited for new boot blisters that never came. With the minor adjustments of closing the lace bevels so I wouldn’t fall to my death when it would catch on the opposite boot’s laces, it was a smooth start to the relationship.

We’ve completed so many miles, completed so many trails, summited many mountains. We started with peaks in SoCal. We summited the highest mountain in the lower 48. We survived mountain passes in Colorado, deserts in the the SW, rainforest in the PNW, mud in the midwest.

You were low maintenance, unassuming, and quietly important. The soles of my feet and weak ankles may thank you the loudest, but my brain knows how integral you were to my hiking safety gear. 

We all grow old, we all age, and we all breakdown after use. You outlasted many other brands and styles. Jake had to replace his twice before I saw signs of the inevitable. You were tired, but you held on to the very end.

Goodbye, faithful boots.

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