The weather persists, for the moment, in being excruciatingly clear. Today was either the ultimate or penultimate farmer’s market of 2009; the first hard frost in town in due within the week.
I did lots of quality reading and writing, before getting out for a walk this afternoon.
I’ve also been thinking about shoes a bit lately; pictured below are the three pairs of hiking shoes I’ve used in the last 19 months.

LaSportiva Fireblades, new this June. Montrail CTCs, purchased last September, and Montrail Hardrocks, bought in January of 2008.
They’re all size 11.5, all have virtues and downsides, and represent three very different approaches to hiking shoes.
In the above picture they’re oriented (L-R) lightest and softest to heaviest and stiffest. The Hardrock midsole is by far the tallest, the CTC and Fireblades are about equal. The Hardrock and Fireblade are both running shoes, with a splayed toebox, lacing that ends before the metatarsals, and a good camber to the shoe. The CTCs are hiking/scrambling shoes, with near the toe lacing, a narrower toebox, and a full toe rand.

Some general observations before I discuss specifics:

The only way I’ve found to make my feet not hurt after a 30 mile day is to walk a lot.
I’ve yet to find a way to avoid ouchie feet at the end of the 40+ mile day.
Superfeet insoles are worth every damn penny.
Exposed stitching, especially on the lower sides, needs a Seam Grip treatment for long term survival.

I got the Hardrocks because the Coyote 2 Moons was coming up and I was worried about my feet limiting me. The Hardrocks have massive padding, and a very stiff full length sole plate. You can mow down sharp embedded rocks in a cement hard trail and not feel a thing. Laterally they’re also very stiff, and I noticed a tendency for the whole shoe to roll on loose terrain and try to flip my ankle. There were a few times off trail in the Grand Canyon last spring when someone with less than bomber, super-strong ankles (which I have and cultivate) would have gotten hurt. They suck and climbing, due to the lack of feel and big amount of sole outboard of the toe-side. I wore these shoes through the C2M 100k and a bunch of hiking and backpacking. I always had to tape my heels to avoid blisters, though just a little tape solved that issue. I never had other blisters issues beyond the expected, minor ones.

By last fall the Hardrocks were getting pretty run down, and I had found memories of the CTCs I had in 2005-6, so I got these on closeout as Montrail was reshuffling their line. I got them in 11.5 rather than 11, which was probably a mistake. They’re a bit too wide laterally, and I can’t where thing socks without sliding around on off camber terrain. Which is silly, because these things are pretty good climbers, and great at scrambling and kicking steps through rough and loose crap. These have done some good scrambles and dayhikes, and a good bit of canyoneering, but have the least miles of the three due to the width issue.

The Fireblades I got in prep for the Devil’s Backbone and the summer’s adventures. They’re very soft, especially in the forefoot, which is the style these days. For someone like me with strong feet and ankles and a sure step (you’ll feel sharp rocks if you mis-step!) these are fast, fast trail shoes. You can kick off with your toes for a little extra acceleration up the steeps. The stock insoles let me heels slip around (I have very, very, very narrow heels, it’s a curse) and I got some blisters, but the Superfeet fixed that utterly. The tread is very low profile, which like a bike tire is fast, but demands careful steps on loose terrain, and really just sucks in slick mud. They’re a few ounces less than the others, which is an exponentially bigger deal on your feet than anywhere else. In addition, and this unfortunately mirrors the experience I’ve had with the other 3 pairs of Sportiva trail shoes I’ve had in the last five years, the materials on the sole and midsole are not as solid as Montrail, and they just wear out faster. My Fireblades are almost ready for the garbage can right now.

However, the problem with the current fashion of low profile, soft soled trail runners (LaSportiva Fireblade, Crosslite, Skylite; Montrail Mountain Masochist) is that the virtues of their design also make them a seriously compromised off-trail shoe. They don’t edge on rock well, don’t kick into chunky scree and loose dirt, and are a nightmare trying to kick steps in any but the slushiest snow. I’m sold on the virtues of low-to-the-ground shoes, and don’t see the massive padding in the Hardrock et al. as doing much good, but I won’t be buying another pair of Fireblades. Right now I’m eyeing a pair of Montrail Flows for adventures this spring and beyond. I’ll also try downsizing to an 11, though I have a well ingrained paranoia of loosing more toenails, an experience I’d rather not have again in my life.

Finally, on a rather different but still gear-related note, Kelly rang us around noon today as we were both laying around reading to tell us that the local REI was having it’s annual picky-ass cusomters returned this functional stuff so we’re selling it for dead cheap sale. When I was working for Second Nature back in the day, we had some seriously scandalous people who gave the whole company a bad rap with their abuse of REI’s return policy, and may have been largely responsible for REIs demanding a sales record for all returns now. They still seem to be appaulling generous, as evidenced by the two things I bought today. A Petzl Tikka (for $4.83 !) which supposed “flickered when on,” which I haven’t been able to notice yet. The other, a mint pair of Pearl Izumi Ultrasensor shorts ($39), had a 5mm long bit of seam separated midway along the leg. I realize not everyone has a sewing machine with multiple overcasting stitches to choose from, and they are expensive shorts, but I like to think folks will fix stuff when it breaks in small ways.

My gain, I suppose. School us humming along well, the weather has been maddeningly ideal all week, and I’ve got some good fitness going. Time to keep Geoff’s words in mind and get out and stay busy. Anyone who keeps slaying shit like him has to be right, eh?