Sunday, February 15, 2009

Keen sandals

My 1-pair-for-the-year shoes have pretty much given up on me. I think they're Merrells so I'm going write them a nice email telling them that their shoes have failed after ~200 days of walking.

I would take them back to REI to return them (they would take them back too) but I don't feel like holding onto them for 3.5 more months.

They have holes in the sole and also the leather outside has ripped in a couple of places next to the rubber sole. I was wondering for a while now why my goretex shoes were leaking water so bad whenever it rained. I actually took a closer look on thursday while preparing for my hike. I tried duct taping around the whole shoe but that proved fruitless because the leather was already slightly wet and the tape didn't stick for long once I started walking in them.

So on the morning of our hike up to Laguna de los Tres, I made a commanding decision to use my keen sandals instead. I was worried my toes would get wet and cold but it was better than walking in soaking shoes all day. I didn't want to buy new shoes in El Chalten either, because it's a remote location so I was worried the selection and price would be unfavorable.

My feet stayed remarkably dry for the first few hours of the hike, even though it was raining pretty good. Then even once they got wet, they were warm for the duration of the hike. I don't know how they did it considering they have holes everywhere (but close toed), but I didn't complain either.

The back heel is half open but I didn't have any problems with getting hurt there. A couple of small loose pebbles came into my shoe but I just shook those out and kept going.

I'm very impressed with these keens. Definitely good quality stuff.

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