a word about my boots

Ô, scandale!

Commenters are knocking my hiking boots, but they should know that I've had those boots since the 1990s, and they've been damn good. They've served me well in places as diverse as the mountains near Colmar, France; the Shenandoahs in Virginia; Kyeongju, South Korea; Taos, New Mexico; Interlaken, Switzerland; and of course some of the mountains around Seoul-- Bukhansan, Dobongsan, and Gwanaksan. The boots also saw use on last year's trip out to Yeongju with Sperwer, and were with me in 2000 when I hit Haein-sa, which is on Kayasan. They're old, grizzled veterans of Europe, the States, and Korea. The fact that they've lasted this long, under the abuse of a guy who has never weighed less than 200 pounds (91kg) since their purchase, is a testament to their quality.

None of which is to say I'm sentimental about my boots, mind you. I'm not sentimental about things like clothing and footwear. I'll use something until it's no longer usable, but once it reaches that state-- bye. So if my boots cheese out on me during my next run or two up Bukhansan, I'll simply go and buy new boots. There's no shortage of decent mountaineering stores in a place like Korea. Since I need to look for a large, America-traversing backpack, anyway, I'm going to end up in such a store in due time.*

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*My preference is for the Gregory brand of backpack, and I'm partial to internal frames, which are usually molded on site at the store (in America, anyway) to conform to the shape of your spine.


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