On Aug 28, 5:20=A0pm, "Wolf Leverich" <lever...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On 2008-08-28, y_p_w <y_...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > On Aug 28, 2:15=A0pm, "Wolf Leverich" <lever...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
> > My common sense tells me that well-ventilated high-top boots did just
> > fine going down Angels Landing in 85-90 deg F temps. =A0Or that the
sam=
e
> > boots did fine as I hiked down and back up the (extremely rocky) South
> > Kaibab Trail at Grand Canyon NP in a late June morning. =A0Or that a
> > park ranger (who apparently did this once a week) hiking solo up to
> > the South Rim from Phantom Ranch was wearing a pair of high-top
> > leather hiking boots.
>
> Whatever floats your boat. =A0You can do those same hikes
> in sandals or plastic boots. =A0Or prolly wooden clogs.
But it doesn't answer the original poster's question.
> The fact that it's possible doesn't mean it's optimal,
> especially across the whole population of hikers.
The original poster had a specific criteria.
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0###
>
> > And you still don't seem to have a response for why cowboys seem to do
> > just fine wearing boots in the desert Southwest. =A0Granted - I do
> > remember a quote from a cowboy saying that he could easily do the job
> > "wearing tennis shoes and a ballcap", but that they have a traditional
> > sense of style that seems to be functional. =A0Heck - US military
> > personnel wear boots in some of the hottest climates in the world and
> > seem to do just fine.
>
> Um, do you actually *know* any ranchers? =A0You would prolly
> be a bit disillusioned if you saw what they actually worked
> in these days.
Seen enough when traversing through Utah. One was a college aged girl
wearing a golf-style sun visor. Her partner was wearing a more
traditional cowboy hat.
An acquaintance used to attend baseball games wearing his cowboy hat.
Apparently he did some ranching in the area east of Oakland as well as
participated in small time rodeos. He stopped attending regularly but
we noticed him again and barely recognized him wearing a baseball cap.
> (Also, crawling into the details, the desert Southwest isn't
> really where you find the cattle industry, anyway. =A0That's
> more of a Texas-Oklahoma-Kansas-Nebraska and surrounds thing.
> My family ranches up in northeastern Wyoming.)
California is a leading beef producer. You can smell the Harris Ranch
feed lot on I-5 2 miles away. There's plenty of cattle ranches over
the desert Southwest, and I've seen quite a bit of cattle driving
through the area.
Like I said - saw that cattle drive in Utah. Utah Hwy 211 from the
Needles section of Canyonlands NP. I believe the section we were on
was BLM land. It was definitely hot - a ranger at Canyonlands said
that summer wasn't the busy season.
Here's a picture of the young lady (if Imageshack will cooperate):
http://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3Dimg04143ix.jpg
http://img62.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3Dimg04108mz.jpg
> Moreover, you're making the one-size-fits-all error right
> and left. =A0Classical cowboy boots had a very distinctive
> design to play nice with stirrups. =A0Military boots are
> designed with thought given to everything from the fact you
> may carrying a 100 lbs of mortar rounds one day and
> squatting in your own pee in the bottom of a foxhole the
> next day.
The original poster expressed a preference for a one-size-fits all
answer. I don't necessarily think that's practical though. That
being said, I have used the same pair of backpacking boots snowshoeing
in the Sierras during February and going up the Half Dome cables in an
80 deg F heat. I didn't consider it much of a problem in both
conditions although insulated boots would have been nice in the
winter.
> I've never suddenly had to get into stirrups, carry a hundred
> pounds of ammo, or crouch in my own pee while hiking. =A0I don't
> even have the same problems park rangers do: those guys have a
> job to do, and it may involve cir***stances where low-topped
> breathable boots just don't work. =A0(Hint: NEVER swab out an
> outhouse wearing low-topped breathables.)
>
> There's no single footgear that's optimal for all cir***stances
> and people. =A0You just gotta use common sense and experiment.
No - but you put down the use of hiking boots for use in the
Southwest. This guy was an interpretive park ranger whose job was to
conduct programs at Phantom Ranch. He didn't exactly look equipped to
clean out an outhouse - not that he'd do that. The maintenance guys
don't wear those golden badges and are given the proper equipment like
rubber boots if they have to clean bathrooms or vault toilets. It was
pretty obvious that he was wearing those boots to protect his ankles.
He also looked like a workout freak. The ranger taking us on a guided
hike said he worked down there and had to do this 5000 ft climb once a
week. He probably could have waited for a mule to haul him back up
but I guess he preferred this to stay in shape. I'd say he was a
"well-conditioned south-westerner" (at least for that season), and he
simply chose a different type of footwear. The was neither a noob,
not-so-bright, nor a tourist.
My common sense and experiments say that lightweight, ventilated
hiking boots with ankle sup****t can work great. Especially for
someone like the original poster who admittedly wants to get into
shape. I've worn such footwear from Mt Tallac to Angels Landing.
Maybe not for everyone, but I think it would be a good starting point
for the original poster's goal of a boot suitable for use. On my trip
to the Southwest I brought along a lightweight Gore-Tex hiking boot, a
midweight Gore-Tex hiking shoe, and a pair of NB trail runners. I
picked and chose whatever felt appropriate for the conditions. Some
days it was a forecast for up to 95, a trail with varied terrain, and
I picked the boots anyways. They were lightweight, comfortable, and
still dry.
That being said - I wore Gore-Tex hiking shoes on my trip earlier this
month.
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