Monday, August 3, 2009

Care and feeding of hiking boots

My poor hiking boots have been sadly neglected of late. I'd been wearing them hiking in Clear Creek all year, but I hadn't cleaned them up the way they need cleaning. The leather had gotten dry and scratched, and when I noticed the right upper had started to separate from the sole a few weeks ago, I stopped wearing them and stuck them in a corner.

Poor boots. I've owned them for over ten years and up until this year I kept good care of them. So this weekend I went to the farmer's co-op and bought a quart of neatsfoot oil and applied it carefully, then once they were dry I went over with spit and saddle soap and cleaned and shined them up. I took out the old worn laces, which I'll replace. This morning--because I have a weird work schedule today and don't have to be at work until noon--I'm going by Pendergrass Family Shoe Repair to drop them off. Pendergrass has repaired my boots several times over the years and do a great job. I just hope they're still in business.

Because this post has absolutely nothing to do with writing, I am now going to talk about writing. Um, I didn't get anything written this weekend. How about you?

7 comments:

Aaron Polson said...

A good pair of boots can be a great friend. We take all of our shoe-schtuff to Olson's Shoe Repair in Manhattan, KS. It's about 70 miles away, but they do the best work.

Hope the boots like their makeover.

K.C. Shaw said...

I'm going to make my boots (and me) even happier with a new pair of green laces too. :)

Danielle Birch said...

I don't do enough hiking. In fact, I don't do any. I do have an exercise bike that I use occasionally.

K.C. Shaw said...

Hiking is a lot more fun than exercise bike things, although admittedly you can't watch a movie while you hike. :)

Jamie Eyberg said...

When I worked construction I would wear through the upper and have to replace the entire boot well before I wore out the soles. So a good pair of boots would last me 9-12 months. Not even long enough to replace the laces.

Carrie Harris said...

Yeah, it doesn't have anything to do with writing, but it did remind me that I need to clean up my moccasins. Thanks. :)

K.C. Shaw said...

Jamie--I can't imagine having to replace my boots every year. I'd better not take a job in construction. :)

Carrie--I love moccasins! I always wear the bottoms out before they're a year old, though. Sort of like Jamie's boots.