These boots were made for walking, part deux
In case anyone's interested, I have adopted the following solution to my walking boot dilemma:
First, I bought a pair of lightweight Gore-Tex walking boots by Columbia in the Tiso sale, and some posh gel-filled insoles (the soles themselves felt a bit thin, and I didn't want to give up on my Karrimors just yet). The insoles in the Karrimors helped, but not enough. Meanwhile, I started wearing the Columbias as everyday wear to cushion the entirely unrelated pain in the ball of my left foot that was a legacy of falling off my bike onto wet rock back in February (now diminishing with physiotherapy and anti-inflammatories, hurrah!).
Then, my Mum asked if, since my old boots were wearing out, I would like a new pair for my birthday? "Well, I've just bought one," I said, but quickly reconsidered, and added "but they're pretty lightweight and it would be really useful to have a more solid pair for winter..." So on my visit to Oxford for Two Shades auditions we went into Go Outdoors (the wonderful discount camping shop at the Redbridge park & ride) where the incredibly patient and helpful assistant (whose name I can no longer remember, but he's the guy with a straggly ponytail who used to work as a sound engineer) helped me try on pretty much every 3- and 4- season boot in the shop until I eventually found a pair of Raichle 4-season boots that fit beautifully. I was somewhat disappointed to learn that Scarpa just don't make boots that are the same shape as my feet, but finding a pair as nice as the ones I've got was more than consolation enough :-)
So yeah, For The Win. The Columbias are just about light enough to wear everyday, and I've taken them out on a couple of long (9-hour) mountain walks, at the end of which my feet were not tired. I cannot overemphasize how much of a revelation this is. The Raichles are, as yet, untested, but the fit was lovely, and I have high hopes for them. They're stiff enough to take a walking crampon, which is a nice upgrade path to have, and yet they're actually slightly lighter than my Karrimors - how technology moves on, eh?
First, I bought a pair of lightweight Gore-Tex walking boots by Columbia in the Tiso sale, and some posh gel-filled insoles (the soles themselves felt a bit thin, and I didn't want to give up on my Karrimors just yet). The insoles in the Karrimors helped, but not enough. Meanwhile, I started wearing the Columbias as everyday wear to cushion the entirely unrelated pain in the ball of my left foot that was a legacy of falling off my bike onto wet rock back in February (now diminishing with physiotherapy and anti-inflammatories, hurrah!).
Then, my Mum asked if, since my old boots were wearing out, I would like a new pair for my birthday? "Well, I've just bought one," I said, but quickly reconsidered, and added "but they're pretty lightweight and it would be really useful to have a more solid pair for winter..." So on my visit to Oxford for Two Shades auditions we went into Go Outdoors (the wonderful discount camping shop at the Redbridge park & ride) where the incredibly patient and helpful assistant (whose name I can no longer remember, but he's the guy with a straggly ponytail who used to work as a sound engineer) helped me try on pretty much every 3- and 4- season boot in the shop until I eventually found a pair of Raichle 4-season boots that fit beautifully. I was somewhat disappointed to learn that Scarpa just don't make boots that are the same shape as my feet, but finding a pair as nice as the ones I've got was more than consolation enough :-)
So yeah, For The Win. The Columbias are just about light enough to wear everyday, and I've taken them out on a couple of long (9-hour) mountain walks, at the end of which my feet were not tired. I cannot overemphasize how much of a revelation this is. The Raichles are, as yet, untested, but the fit was lovely, and I have high hopes for them. They're stiff enough to take a walking crampon, which is a nice upgrade path to have, and yet they're actually slightly lighter than my Karrimors - how technology moves on, eh?