Mount Major & Footwear

This past weekend I took Friday and Monday off from work to enjoy the weather and get outside (see separate post to follow shortly on Zealand from Saturday June 20). Friday I took Jasper (my yellow lab) up to Mount Major. We had plenty of company on our way to the trailhead with all the motorcycles heading up to Laconia for the closing weekend of Motorcycle Week. This is a short hike not too far from home with a great view of Lake Winnipesauke. It is an excellent place to start getting in shape for some more serious mountain hiking. If you are out of the house by 8AM you can be back by noon. There are two trails to the top. The main trail starts to the right of the parking area and the Boulder Loop trail starts on the left. I forgot which was which and ended up on the Boulder Loop trail which involves, as its name might suggest, a little more scrambling. I was surprised that Jasper did so well. He is an 85 pound yellow lab mix and I was concerned how he might do scrambling up some tough spots. He is not the kind of dog that likes to be picked up – in fact I’ve never done it successfully. I was very impressed with his problem solving abilities. He was determined to not only go everywhere I went, but to lead the way. Someday I’ll get him a pack so he can carry his own water. I kept him off leash for most of the hike except for one section when we were headed down and there were a lot of people on the trail. He is friendly but you do run into people who just don’t like dogs.

FOOTWEAR

I’ve been really struggling with footwear. My standard shoe size is 13EEEE (extra wide). There are only a few traditional boot makers that make wide (EE) hiking or backpacking boots and very few who make extra wide widths. I have a pair of Propet hiking boots I picked up about 18 months ago. I got them mail order because nobody carries extra wide in a store. They seem to run just a bit wide but do fine with a heavy sock. But as talked about in the Waumbek post, I got blisters on my toes during the last mile of the descent so my confidence in them is shaken. It might have been just because the socks were wet – it was pouring rain – but I tried to find some alternatives.

I went to REI down in Reading last week and tried on both the Asolos Fugitive and the Vasque Wasatch in 13EE (no outdoor gear outfitter that I am aware of in my area carry 13EEEE). Immediately upon putting my foot in the Asolo I knew it was too tight – I didn’t even bother lacing it. But the Wasatch was close. They fit my left foot very well. They felt just a bit tight on the right, that being the bigger of my two feet. After wearing the Wasatch around the store a bit I decided to take them home and give them a try. But after wearing them around the house for about an hour I determined that they were too tight. Just sitting down, after an hour the right side was aching.

In the meantime I went online and ordered some Dunham Cloud 9 light hikers. I had a pair of Dunhams years ago that did okay but back then I wasn’t doing any hiking like have I have been this year. I wore the Dunhams up Mt Major. This is not a great pair of hiking boots. Overall I just felt like my feet were moving around too much and not getting enough protection or support. They don’t have the same level of craftsmanship as other boots in the same price range. So after getting off Mt Major I was off to EMS to see if I could get some help there. I found a boot I was really happy with. The Keen Klamath. Keens do not come in widths but I have a pair of Keen shoes that fit great so I figured I would give them a try. This pair of Keen boots are just about perfect in the width for me. There was just a slight bit of tightness around the pinky toe on the right but I was able to push the side out a bit. I also like the material, the design, the comfort (except as detailed below), and the tread. When I tried them on at the store I was really annoyed at the way the tongue or top of the boot was rubbing the top of my right foot. Moving the tongue around, adjusting the lacing, nothing seemed to help. It was rubbing right on the bone. I really like them so I asked the clerk if they had another pair. They did and I did not notice the problem in this new pair – so I bought them. I wore them on our 11.4 mile hike of Zealand detailed in a blog to follow.

After resting at the Zeacliffs, about 2/3 of the way into the hike I noticed the same annoying rubbing of the shoe I had noticed at the store on the top left foot this time. It became pretty painful. I adjusted the lacing a few times to try and relieve the pressure on this spot. I was able to get it to a point where I could finish the hike with just a bit of discomfort. When we got back to the car and I took of my boots I noticed a painful welt the boots had created on the top of my foot. It is greatly diminished but still hurts today, four days later.

Brian says he tried out these same Keens and noticed the same problem in the store with pressure/pain on top of the foot. I’m headed back to the store to see what they have to say about it and show them the photo of my foot after the hike.

My footwear dilemma continues. I am considering visiting Intervale and dropping the serious dough to get a pair of custom Limmers. Mass manufactured footwear just does not seem to be cutting it for me. But there is a long wait for custom Limmers so I need some sort of mid-term solution. Then of course there was the Jackson/Webster hike where I forgot my boots and hiked it in my New Balance NB 966 trail shoes. It makes me question how much I actually need boots. The New Balance did well on this hike but I would like to have a little more support.

The search continues….