Knockin' Boots

Yesterday I went to REI to try on a pair of boots. Knowing how much I hike, maybe you'd think I already own lots of pairs of boots. Not so. I hate boots. Boots are for sucks. Boots are almost as lame as shaving regularly. Seriously, who would want to lift an extra three pounds with every single step for thousands of miles, and get blisters while doing it? Not that my trail-runners are always blister-proof, but wearing big-ol boots when you've got blisters is worse than wearing lightweight sneakers with blisters. I also hate the looks that I get when I tell shoe salespeople that I deliberately wear my running shoes a size or size and a half too big. This is actually pretty common amongst thru-hikers, but I've even had one salesmen try and bring me euro and women's sized boots to try and trick me into wearing something he thought actually fit me. I admit this would probably be a bad idea if I ever wore boots, but for sneakers it seems to give your foot plenty of room to expand with the relentless pounding.

Oh, and by the way, I attended the best high school in the country. Take that, Stuyvesent!