Hiking Shoes

These are the ones I wear now, and this is the second pair. I bought the 1st one on Amazon, and after the 3rd or 4th hike the sole on the left one peeled off at the back. May be it was bad glue batch, I don’t know, but I returned them as defective and tried Keen. Keen is OK, and I kept the pair, but it’s not so good on long descent, – too wide, foot moves a little bit forth and back, and toes eventually get hurt.

These Salomon boots are high, which means strong ankle support, so the foot does not move even on steep terrain, and toes always have enough room and don’t bend.

Boots are waterproof, – this feature tested on Porcupine Ridge when you have to cross the creek several times, and they come out of the water absolutely dry. They are very trustworthy on steep slopes, both ascent and descent and make me confident if I go for a good scramble, like Heart Mountain or Door Jamb. And they are just very comfortable, so I bought another pair in Atmosphere, and so far so good. The only disadvantage I found so far – you need to be a PHD to figure out how to properly lace them.

My wife also has Salomon, different model but also very comfortable, stable, waterproof, and well-behaving on steep slopes, scree and rocks.

It actually took us a while to find good shoes. Some people may not take is seriously, but it’s the most important piece of your gear. We took our friends to Iceline Trail in Yoho NP once, and they wore running shoes. It was a nice day and after about 2km in the trail we decided to do the loop through Celeste Lake. Alltrails gave 16.9 km, and we did not know back then that it tends to underestimate the length of trails. The loop turned out to be about 24 km instead of 15 planned originally. We all came back to Takakkaw Falls tired and with burned legs, but our friends also with a bunch of horrible blisters and could not move for about a week or two.

My point is that having correct footwear is extremely important. It can be expensive, but it pays off. Take your time, try a few brands, on a couple of easy trails first. If you tried once or twice you won’t have a problem with return. But your hiking shoes must fit like they are part of your body. If they are not and you constantly have to feel and think about them, – keep looking.