Shoes! Shoes! and more Shoes!

Because I work in publishing, I get a particular kick out of any of my nieces or nephews discovering a magazine. A few years back my then five year old niece discovered the shoe issue of In Style. She gleefully proclaimed that she "had no idea there were this many shoes in the world" and proceeded to pour through the pages pointing out which ones she "needed." She must get her shoe obsession from her Mom. My brother only wears comfortable shoes, my sister is practical in her footwear and every shoe in my closet is black, navy blue, brown, tan or white. (Oh - except for those pink sandles which were 80% off.)

When you start to plan for a 200 mile walk you think about shoes - a lot. I've always been partial to Merrell hiking boots. I tend to buy about a pair a decade and they do well with the 5-8 mile hikes which tend to be my norm. My current boots don't cover my ankles but they have served me well; in Colorado, Utah, Wales and Scotland. Talking with my brother at Christmas he pointed out that this trip is more than I've ever done before and I might want to invest in a new pair. While I try hard not to tell my brother he is right too often, this time he was correct. When I hiked in Scotland, I hiked with a woman who had to duct tape her boot to get through the final days of the trip. Not a real option here. Scotland also resulted in some wet feet - my Merrells are getting old and sometimes are not as waterproof as they were originally. Stepping in deep puddles in pouring rain didn't help but I wouldn't want to be putting on wet boots a second day.

Thankfully, REI opened a store in New Jersey and once the trip was confirmed I headed to East Hanover to see what they had. REI is for serious outdoor enthusiasts and while I don't count myself in their hardcore stream, I can appreciate their appreciation for top equipment. Heading over to the shoe department, I picked up a pair of Merrell's which thankfully they did not have in my size. That forced me to ask for help and the sales staff and every other woman in the department told me I needed to try on the Keens. Stylish (ok maybe my niece gets a bit of her obsession from me) and so very comfortable, my feet were in heaven. That's good because we know they won't feel that way later this month! The Keens have seen a lot of the parks in suburban New Jersey over the last couple of months. Both pairs will be making the trip - just in case one pair gets wet.

Hiking shoes chosen, the harder part of the trip are the after hike shoes. Here I'm going with an old pair of leather Sketchers which are very comfortable and very rectanglar. I think the latter will be helpful and give my feet plenty of spreading room. My after hike sandles are J-41 which near as I can figure out are shoes made by Chrysler LLC (seriously) using some sort of Jeep technology. They have a map in the bottom but I don't think one which will help me. I hope I don't have reason to find out.

So - two week hike - two pairs of hiking boots and two pairs of after hike shoes. I have a feeling at the end of the trip, I'll be ready for a pretty pair of red high heeled sandles. Maybe I can ask my niece for help with picking out a pair!