Out with the Old, In with the New

Do all good things come to an end, or does life simply move on?

Both, I suspect.  My trusty old Crocs were purchased 4½ years ago at Ottawa airport for the purpose of river crossings and evening wear whilst backpacking.  Since then they have been on five TGO Challenges and numerous other backpacking trips and holidays of all descriptions, as well as accompanying me on wet day walks when it has been handy to have spare footwear for the pub.  At 285gm they are really no trouble to carry around.

I’ve also backpacked for around 100 miles in the Crocs, an activity for which they are not ideal, especially when the sole wears down to a smooth piece of plastic (or is it rubber?).  Anyway, they slip easily in the wet, and aren’t all that secure when being used for river crossings.

So, I’ve been keeping my eyes open for a successor to the Crocs, not really expecting to find anything as light as they are.

Then Alan Rayner discovered the Hattori running shoe, from Saucony.  I investigated this minimalist piece of kit and am now the owner of a pair of running shoes that weigh just 245gm, 40gm lighter than my Crocs!

I can run in them!  They have (a bit of) cushioning, and a grippy sole, and they will be great for river crossings, evening wear and for backpacking generally, when the boots become tiresome on hot dry sections.  And I can use them for running – not that I do much of that.

I took this picture earlier and should have taken one of the grippy sole as well.

I’ll have to add the sole picture later, as the shoes are now stuffed deep inside my bag for our next trip, which starts shortly.

Meanwhile, the Crocs are not dead, they are very useful for trips into the back garden, and they do slip on rather more easily than these Hattori shoes…

Finally, I notice from Alan’s blog that Inov-8 have some lightweight shoes – 190gm is quoted – that’s excellent if it’s for a pair, but I suspect it’s per shoe, as in the case of the Hattori’s quoted 125gm.

PS You’ll note that I’ve changed the header, footer and background images to some taken on the TGO Challenge.  Poor Michael now features on the header, at a spot that many Challengers will recognise.  Not so many will be able to identify the Munro from where the footer image was taken, probably because they have never been there.  Even fewer will recognise the Munro from whose trig point the background image was taken, and in truth, it could be anywhere.  It just happens to be Meall Chuaich, early on 20 May, before the snow melted.  I hope that those of you who have your computers set to bring the background image to the foreground on your screens will appreciate my effort to provide you with a clear background/foreground for a few weeks.  If anyone is aware of this problem and knows how to sort it out, I know a couple of readers who would appreciate the sharing of your knowledge!