Review of Salewa Trail Running Shoes

  You've heard it all before- how I have so much trouble finding shoes that fit me. I will say again that I never tell people what kind of shoes/boots are the "best." You have to find the brand(s) that your own feet will be happy with. Several of the major brands make my feet scream. I'd appreciate it if you don't tell me what kind of shoes I should be wearing.

For the most part, I'm not going to bother to review the shoes I wore on this hike. Most were fairly inexpensive (New Balance, Fila, and Walmart Avia which fit so well that I bought 3 pairs even though they are really cheap and didn't last too long), and they all did fairly well.. In the spring of 2020, I went on a shoe-shopping spree when I learned that I was not going to be able to get any of my favorite trail runners, which are New Balance 610s.

I spent a whole day in Grand Rapids and came home with 4 pairs of shoes that fit me and a major case of the shopping grumpies. Before the warm weather ended, I bought 6 more pairs of shoes on the hike. Having shoes that fit trumped having shoes that lasted a long time.

The Salawa running shoes were the only ones that cost more than $40. They were $100 even on clearance. I thought they'd be great given their full price and the reputation of the brand.

I didn't start wearing them, other than breaking them in a bit, until the summer of 2022. Because of their price tag, I didn't want to destroy them in the mud of Pennsylvania and New York. Three pairs of shoes totally disintegrated in that slop. So when the trails dried out a bit, I started wearing these.

First of all, I'll say that I don't like this kind of laces. They are that skinny elastic that you pull, then slide the plastic fitting down to hold it and tuck the elastic ends behind a flap on the tongue. I just can't imagine that this system holds up the same way a lace would, but I figured I could replace it with laces if necessary.

The shoes are lightweight and balanced well. They have good traction. They fit. They are high enough in the heel (one of my issues is nerves close to the skin that won't tolerate the heel counter rubbing on them.)

But here's the thing. They are stiff. They never softened up a bit. I can't say that they actually made my feet hurt, but neither were they ever comfortable. I ended up wearing them from time to time, but only for a few days in a row. I finally gave up hoping they would get better. I'm not sure if I'll even keep them.

I'll give them 5 out of 10.

In other news: I spent the morning writing the first draft of a different play that will definitely be under 10 minutes. I got an idea early this morning, turned on the computer and started writing. After lunch took some more stuff out of the car and started putting it away. Cleaned up some more space in the house. Contemplated a store run, but I have managed to put that off. I'll probably really have to do that tomorrow.

See Oboz Mt. Rainier Boots

Review of Black Diamond Tall Gaiters

  I started out with using the short gaiters that I adapted as noted in the link at the end. However, as the snow deepened, I realized that I really needed tall gaiters. My pants kept pulling out of the short ones, and yes, the gumby suit is waterproof, but water can seep up under them from the bottom at the cuffs.

I wanted to get tall gaiters quickly, rather than ordering them. I went to an outdoor store and there was exactly one choice, so I bought them. They are pretty good. These are Black Diamond tall gaiters, size small.

The lower half is Gore-Tex and the upper half is nylon. The foot strap is hard plastic which I suspect will wear through, but so far it seems to be holding up. The velcro that fastens them around your leg is 2 inches wide for security. There is an elastic at the top with a cord-loc to pull it tight. They fit, so I think the sizing is accurate. I also tried on a medium pair, and they were a little too big.

I wore them every hiking day after I bought them, which is about a month. I never had wet pants cuffs after that. Success!

There are only two things about these that I do not like. The first is that they don't come up high enough to rest above the top of your calf muscle. That elastic at the top has to be cinched around the muscle. It's not enough to hurt or anything, but it annoys me constantly. I have to work to mentally block out the feel of that elastic. Bill's gaiters come to just under his knee and have a flat strap. I would much rather have that kind of top.

The other thing is that the center front has a hook that you would think is meant to fasten into the metal loop on your boots below the laces that is made for that purpose. Nope. For some reason, these don't come down far enough, so you have to just hook them on the shoe laces. Phooey. They don't always stay hooked, and you can already see visible wear on the boot laces from the hook. You can see in the top picture that they don't come down to the bottom of the laces.

Given the price of these, I wanted to be happier with them, but they did do the job of keeping my legs dry.

I give them 7 of 10 stars.

In other news: I actually did enough around the house today that there is a little bit more open floor space. I also replaced burned out light bulbs so I can see in the pantry and porch. But one other room with no light may need a new fixture. I may have said more than 4 words out loud, but I was only talking to myself, so it wasn't too stressful. Of course, the floor space means I can unload part of the car. But the light in the pantry means I can put some of that stuff away.

I also finished formatting the play I was going to submit to the Arts Center contest. But it's too long (15 minutes instead of 10). I don't think I can cut it by that much and have it be meaningful. Sigh- I really would like to see that one produced. Maybe I'll get an idea and write a new one. I'm not feeling inspired tonight. We shall see.

See Fixing the Gaiters

Review of True Blue Gumby II

  Some of you may remember that I made a new rain suit in 2018. (Links below for the blow by blow) I've used it quite a bit since then, but not to the extent that I've worn it this past year. I don't have an exact count of the days, but I suspect I had it on for about 200 of the 385 days I was out. Overall, I've been extremely happy with it. But, trust me, it does not look pristine and shiny any more!


Other than the fact that I knew it would fit, this was a bit of an experiment. I made the pattern from a previous rain suit I owned which I was unable to replace with anything light weight and water proof in my size.

The part that was experimental is that the suit was made from silnylon. This is nylon impregnated with silicone, so it is absolutly impervious to water. It's used for tents and tarps, but not usually recommended for clothing because this also means it does not breathe. You'll get wet from the inside as you sweat.

However, I decided to try it. I seem to sweat no matter what kind of layer I have on top anyway. I can't wear some of the magic synthetics next to my skin because they itch like crazy and give me a rash. Since I wasn't planning to backpack very much, I knew I could dry my clothes out at night in the trailer.

As far as being waterproof, Gumby II (Gumby I was green and got nicknamed the Gumby suit by a friend) worked very well except for one day when we hiked in a real downpour all day long. I never did seal the seams, and they leaked. That day, I got soaked. I think maybe my shoulders got damp a couple of times other than that day. I do have to say that in the spring, I found a poncho that fit me, and that also kept my pack dry. So after I added the poncho, I wasn't asking quite as much of the rain suit in really bad rain.

I do get pretty wet from the inside out when it's not very cold outside. I don't know if this would be a good jacket for winter backpacking. But usually when it's cold enough (I'll define that as below 30 degrees), I haven't gotten wetter than I would with any other jacket.

The only other fault is that the pants didn't hold up to all the brush and berry bushes in Ohio very well. The pants now have patches on top of patches. But that's OK, they continued to work.

I put slash front pockets in the pants. If I make another of these suits, I'll probably add zippers. I'm tired of losing things out of pockets, although I only lost one thing from these pants. But zippers are good security.

Because I made this suit, the hood fits- it does not fall in front of my eyes. I made the sleeves long enough that I can roll them back, or roll them down so water runs off over my hands instead of wetting my cuffs or gloves. It has a kangaroo pocket and a full width hand warmer pocket behind that. The one design error is that I can't get the pants off over shoes. I'd have to make the legs pretty baggy to do that, particularly over boots, so maybe that's not something I'll change anyway.

This was quite lightweight silnylon. It actually held up a little better than I had hoped given the hard use it's seen this year. I paid $6/yard, and it was pretty wide- 54 inches I think. Excellent value.

I give this 9 out of 10 stars.

Decompression progress: I did indeed go to the post office and the library. I got lucky. Nobody recognized me, so I didn't have to talk beyond saying "Media mail," and giving someone my name to check out more books. That's four words for the day. Seems about right. I did a bit of organization of the home front dumpster, but you can't tell. Ha.

See True Blue Gumby II See Gumby Progress See Half of Gumby Turns Blue

Emerging?

  Today, I felt as if I might be able to survive having a conversation with another human being. And I needed to get a few groceries, toilet paper and light bulbs. So I went to the store and stopped at Cathy's for a little while.

Cathy was almost done with a jigsaw puzzle, so we finished it up.

As you can see, I did indeed survive. But it was nip and tuck. I have to do a post office trip. That foray will be my big emotional goal for tomorrow. You think I'm kidding? I'm not sure I'll ever dig my way out of the mess in this house, but I'd rather sit here among the piles than have to deal with people for a while.

See Best Books 2022

Best Books Read in 2022

  When I actually counted up the books I read in 2022, it turned out to be at least 36. There may be a couple that I borrowed from people and didn't write down. I know there was at least one I got from a little free library, and left it at another. I can't remember the title. That tells you a bit about how I felt about it. Anyway, 11 were non-fiction.

Anyway, here are the six I have selected as the best reads of 2022, in alphabetical order.

Title	Author	Genre
Brief Review
Alive	Piers Paul Reid	survival
I have read this before, but it was in a pile of free books, and I needed to swap out one I had finished for something to carry with me while backpacking in the Adirondacks. So I picked it up. Still an amazing story. This is the true account of the Argentine soccer team whose airplane crashed in the Andes, and how some of them managed to survive.
The Boys in the Boat	Daniel Brown	history
This is a history of the 1936 rowing team from Washington state that qualified for the Berlin Olympics, and beat Hitler's team, taking the gold medal. It's a riviting look into the sport, the times, and the lives of the rowers, focusing on one in particular.
George Washington's Military Genius	Dave Palmer	History
I thought I owned most of the important books about Washington, but I had not seen this one. It was first published under the title The Way of the Fox. Palmer tries to find an accurate assessment of Washington- something between the near worship of the 1800s and the scornful dismissal of his skill in the early 20th century.
Gunflint Burning	Cary Griffith	History
This book chronicles the events that led to the Ham Lake Fire in the Boundary Waters of 2007, and then the story of how it was finally contained and suppressed. Since parts of the North Country Trail were burned over in this fire, it's a rather personal story to me.
Iron Lake	William Kent Krueger	Mystery
This title is only the first of a series of mysteries. I haven't yet worked my way through the entire set, but so far, I'd say they are surprisingly consistent in quality, and I think it's going to be one of my favorite series. Krueger is a Minnesota author and the books are set in and near the Boundary Waters in semi-fictional locations. They have mystery, action, family story, Anishanaabe/ Anglo tension and cooperation, police procedure, and even humor. I like the characters a lot.
The Worst Hard Time	Timothy Egan	History
After reading The Boys in the Boat, I wanted to read more about the Dust Bowl. We think we've had some rough years. We really have nothing on the 1930s. The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and then Hitler and the start of World War II (although the US didn't join until 1941). There was an awful lot about that whole tragedy of the dust bowl that I knew almost nothing about.

In other news: I mostly goofed off and read more. This should not be a surprise. Several local friends have reached out to me to do interesting things. I'm just not ready to emerge into a world where I have to actually talk to people yet.

See Best Books of 2020