| No Time . . . . Read The Highlights . . .
NOTE: I am under no contract or obligation to write the following I just believe in what works and I will always promote what I believe in without kickback. It is true that Keen has provided me with 2 pairs of boots but with the distances I cover that hasn't been enough so I have bought 2 pairs myself. Each time it has cost me half my monthly budget while I hike. I think that says a lot don't you?
What We Do In Life Eco's In Eternity . . . . O.K. Fine That's A Cheesy Movie Quote But Is It Not True?  |
| Knowing I had Just Walked Over 5000 km's On The Trans Canada Trail Solo, Suffering All Forms Of Hardships To Sit For The First Time On Parliament Hill In Our Nations Capitol As A Proud Canadian. At Times It Seemed As Though Odds Were Against. Maybe They Were. Though Here I Was Fulfilling A Dream I Had Dared To Realize. This Was A Pivotal Moment. A Real Tear Jerker Fo-Sho . . . . Ah That Means "For Sure" To The Less Informed . . . . Stylish, Hip, Yet Functional Just Like Me, Click Here To See . . . . I DON'T HAVE TIME TO MESS AROUND . . . I WEAR WHAT WORKS . . . EAT WHAT WORKS AND, . . . WELL GENERALLY DO . . . "YOU GUESSED IT" . . . WHAT WORKS. . . AH A SENSIBLE THING ME THINKS . . .
10,451 km's Hiked on the Trans Canada Trail. On some of the toughest Bug Infested, Fear Inspiring, Soul Sucking, Foot Fermenting terrain this country has to offer. But hey my feet were cozy. O.K. It's not that bad but it is very, very, very far and it still is Canada thus full of all sorts of challenges. No one else has done it. That says a little I think!
|
I will hike all 22,000 km's of the Trail. It is a first and so have no basis for comparison. It is always a lesson learned and a hardship endured. For Two of the Four years and soon to be Three I have sworn by my Keen's. I prefer the Oregon Pct Hiking Boot and it has served me well though I have tried the Alexander which is equally amazing but my heart is still with the Oregon overall. Here's why . . . .
BELOW ARE THE HARD IRREFUTABLE FACTS. . . .
 |
| 2250 Km's I Put On Just This Pair Of Keen Oregon's Pct All in one stretch. I Had To Retire Them Because The Tread Wore Out, The Boot Was Still In Great Shape. It is hard to give them up when they are still so comfortable and perfectly formed to you feet. If Your Gonna Talk The Talk You Best Walk It Too Hey! A Great Idea, Find A Pair You Too Can Abuse Or At Least Imagine Abusing. Click This And Travel To Hiker's Heaven . . . . |
HERE IS THE STORY ON HOW THIS CAME TO BE . . . .
In the beginning of this journey I had no particular loyalties to any boot company. I would just hike and when a pair of boots blew apart usually after 500-800 km's I would grab another pair of whatever was available in the next community over. In fact I was quite ignorant to the importance of a quality pair of Boot's. I thought them all the same. That is until after 2 years of hard punishment on my feet I developed severe Plantar Fasciitis a very painful condition where your feet swell as a result of damaging the connective tissue on the sole of the foot. The damage was so bad in fact that after my 2nd year hiking I was unable to go back to work and spent my winter in Physiotherapy unsure if I could continue. I had to get special orthotics made to support the connective tissue on the bottom of my feet. In fact the X-Ray had shown that I had pushed way too far for way too long which was evident in the large bone Spurs growing from my heel.
Enter Keen Canada . . . . It was season 3 of "The Great Hike" and despite a small fear that my feet wouldn't hold up even with the new inserts I feted my 60lb pack onto my shoulders and set off the the unknown. Well at least for me unknown. Anyway Keen had partnered with the TCT in fact here is a clip from the actual E-Mail I received from Heather. . .
Hi Dana,
I got your name and info from Lea (TCT). We are partnering with them again this
year with a program called KEEN Boots Give Back. Where people take photos of their boots
or shoes in the outdoors and upload them at the KEEN website. And $5 for each pair of boots
gets donated to an organization that the person selects. TCT is one of the organizations!!
That was just a quick in a nutshell background of KEEN and TCT. KEEN is an outdoor
footwear company and we would love to have you in our shoes.
That E- Mail could not have come at a better time as I needed a new pair of Boots badly and my a new pair would have taken up half my monthly budget. So I got sized up in Ottawa as they fit about a size small. I am a size 11 but when in Keens I get an 11.5, they also have a wide design perfect for me as I have a wide foot. When they arrived the first thing I did is put them on and go for a walk. WOW! What a difference. Immediately I could tell this was going to be a much more pleasurable experience. There was a short break in period while my feet realigned the calluses but other than that "The Great Suffering" of blisters was but a memory. In fact with my second pair of Keen's there was no break in period at all. I hit the Trail Hiking so to speak.
Look my feet have suffered plenty so I'm not blowing smoke up your butt when I'm telling ya these boots are the real deal. If they weren't I wouldn't promote them. The FACT is that yes I have received 2 free pairs of boots from them but that wasn't enough as the extreme distances I hike so I have bought 2 pairs myself once even waiting 3 days for them to arrive in a small remote community in Northern Ontario called Ignace. So as you see this is a crock of crap trying to sell you something. I post this because I believe in it. SIMPLE!
