Boots...camp

Morning! what a great day it is too - today is all about my boots.

As you can see from the above pics, my poor old boots have done a great job for nearly 10 years - they have been around the world, have trekked the Himalayas in Bhutan have pounded pavements and moors, up scree slopes and through bogs in Booze, through snow and streams they have kept my feet warm and dry and never a blister to be seen.

Alas, I I fear that Kilimanjaro would be a mountain too far for these faithful friends so it has become time to let them go to the great hiking trail in the sky....

Please bow your heads for a 1 minute silence to respect my dearly departed loved ones...

Thank you

 (yeah I know... :-) )

So once I decided that I needed to get new boots, how did I choose? There are so many different styles out there at such different prices and made of varying technical sounding materials that promise all sorts of fabulous feet pampering things - where do you start?

Having only had 2 pairs of boots in the last 15 years or so, both made by Karrimor, this was naturally my 1st instinct - stick to what has been so good for so long. However being in Australia, it soon became apparent that getting Karrimors would be a bit more difficult than I had 1st anticipated.

So what next? google of course! 'best hiking boots' soon turned up 1000's of possibilities and after much scanning through reviews I'd narrowed it down to a few choices.

Next step is of course to go try some on...so in the middle of a hot summer day in Melbourne I went to the outdoor shops on Little Bourke with 2 layers of socks (thin inners and my thick winter alpine socks!)  and within about 10 minutes it was game over.

The Asolo's just fit perfectly - they were so comfortable and light and having just rolled my ankle badly at the gym only 3 days earlier, ankle support was naturally a big consideration for me and the way these boots wrapped around and held my ankles when I tied them up, pretty much sealed the deal instantly! Now all I had to decide was whether to go for the rigid sole or the less rigid sole - I eneded up going for the rigid sole, given that the slopes on Kili will be covered in scree and I'm also contemplating climbing Mt Aconcagua next year so i figured I would need the extra tough 4 Wheel Drive version of the boots.

And here they are

So today is going to be the 1st time i take my beautiful new Asolo boots out for their 1st long walk - I've done 5 km in them up to now several times and of course I've been doing the stairs in them and they have been brilliant - so comfy, almost like wearing a pair of runners! Whilst my legs might be dying, my feet have been cosy and supported every stair of the way.

The plan is to walk to South Melbourne to do the markets and back (of course!). This will be about 9-10 km.

Will let you know how I get on :-)