This is an epic tale of one woman and her shoes battling nature at its most primal. It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon, an even 75 degrees with a cooling wind. Audrey and I decide to take our dogs out into a vast wilderness area. It is called Phillips Farm and it was there that I faced what I call "the vortex".
As you can imagine I had my trusty North Face shoes on for this long and arduous hike. During this trek I put these shoes through a series of tests, trials, and various forms of abuse. All of this so I could review these, dare I say, magical shoes?
Shoes pictures are from after the hike.
I will warn you these shoes are ridiculously expensive. They retail for $110.00 a pop and I will also tell you its worth every penny. They fit like a dream, its like walking on a cloud and feels like the shoes were made for my feet. I had been having trouble finding shoes that fit, it seems like all of these 'new' shoes are narrow neon colored abominations. But I finally found these at my local
Tri-State, and they fit so well I just couldn't say no.
More about these shoes: They come in two different
color combinations, mine are black/razzle pink, and the other set are weimaraner brown/radiant orange. Specs on the
website include a bottom compression-molded EVA midsole, an ESS midfoot shank, UltrATAC rubber outsole, breathable mesh, synthetic and webbing upper midsole support, protective TPU toe cap and a gortex layer. I had to buy a half size bigger than I normally would so do not be alarmed if you need to get up a half or even a whole shoe size. They are super sturdy with a good amount of tread and have a Gortex layer inside that make these quite waterproof but also breathable so you won't start sweating. The stitching is good, the laces tie down tight, and the shoes just looks flat out sexy.
Trial number one: Walking three miles uphill sometimes bushwacking my own trail through thorny shrubs and up uneven slippery slopes.
Result: These shoes have not a scratch from thorns, nor do they have any debris caught in them, not a single pine needle. Despite trudging and dragging them through piles of pine needles, leaves, and twigs not a single one caught the shoe. The shoe also handles both uphill and downhill slopes with ease, it grips the earth not unlike an icepick in a mountain climbers hand.
Trial Two: How waterproof are they really? To test this hypothesis I placed my feet up to the laces in a few mud puddles and splashed around a bit.
Result: My feet stayed entirely dry throughout the entire trip, they didn't even get sweaty. That gortex layer forces water away like a magnet and the mud slides off the shoes like its afraid to be there. After stepping out of the puddle there was not a single drop of mud clinging to the shoe, nor did any accumulate in the treads. I may as well of just stepped out of a fresh mountain spring for all the shoe cared.
Trial Three: Walk three miles in unbroken shoes.
Result: Not a single blister or sore spot could be found on my feet.
Trial Four: Sinking the shoe and my leg up to my knee in a rotten stump. This trial is nicknamed "the vortex" and I nearly ended up in wonderland. After hiking up through all of that brush, thorns, and low hanging branches I finally arrived at the location of our final geocache of the day. Its a large clearing with old growth trees, vivid green ferns and sunlight filtering down through the leaves. Its quite picturesque and we decide its a great place to photograph the shoes for its review. Audrey suggests posing captain morgan style on a stump. I decide its a better idea to straddle two stumps with one foot on each. The first stump is sturdy and my right foot heads on over to the other stump. Mind you there are no cracks or any indication of rot in this particular stump. My foot lands and immediately starts sinking into the vortex and continues to swallow my leg up the the knee. I fall backwards and puncture my arm on a branch and panicked I roll over and jump up leaping away from what I thought was an ants nest. Well there were no ants and I was very lucky to leave with only a few scrapes and a very bruised ego.
Stump aftermath pictured below.
Result: I credit these shoes entirely for not breaking my foot.They kept my ankle straight and were sturdy enough not to roll or let any sharp pieces of wood into my shoe. Not a single sliver penetrated the sole, and I have absolutely no bruises on my feet. This was unfortunately not my first encounter with a stump-vortex and I will tell you that the first time I sunk into one I was
not wearing these shoes and my foot was damaged considerably.
Conclusions: The shoes are waterproof, breathable, comfy as a cloud, require little to no breaking in, will let you climb just about anything, will not become dirty or accumulate detritus easily, are seriously tough, and look pretty freaking awesome while doing all of that.
You can purchase these shoes at the link below.
http://www.thenorthface.com
Review by Jessica
allthethingsarefree@blogspot.com
On the way in to Palouse Falls, there is absolutely no evidence that there would any waterfalls within hundreds of miles. The drive in comes up the dry Washtucna Coulee. Its a regular dry tumbleweed slice of the Old West - like a Sergio Leone film. Even as you pull into the parking area (which requires either a $10 day fee, or a Washington State Discover Pass), its not immediately obvious where all the water is supposed to be. The wonder of the Scablands is the sudden geological features and Palouse Falls is the most dramatic example. 
