I did a 58.3 mile section hike of the John Muir trail from Silver Lake to Happy Isles last week.
Strava link:
https://www.strava.com/activities/7503131464
How well did the Kevin Leahy boots do?
The good
Every day, my feet felt fresh. No quad pain, no IT band pain, the shins and calf muscles were tight, on days when I descended a lot, but a minute of Vajrasana fixed it.
I have an annoying habit of rolling my ankles. I rolled them 3-4 times going down Donahue pass and from Sunrise lakes. The boots protected me every single time.
The not so good
I felt a pressure point on my left big toe. I had pain in both my big toes last year with a custom orthotic done by Super Feet. It was excruciatingly painful that I almost ended my hike last year, but cut the heel of my orthotic and continued. I emailed Kevin about this near Donahue pass (where you have phone signal, thanks to June lake ski resorts). Kevin immediately checked my cast and last and said that he found a callus in my big toe which indicates gait issues. He suggested that I send the boot and orthotic in so he can make corrections for that. I am sending in my boot for that adjustment.
I started to develop heel blisters on both feet. Since NPS closed Tuolumne meadows campground, we had to do Thousand Island lake - Little Yosemite Valley in 3 days. That is roughly 43 miles of 4,000 feet gain and 4,000 feet loss in 3 days. Maybe I could have done this two years ago when I was the fittest (trailwise), but this year, I had little trail hardening. I pushed myself too hard on unbroken boots. Kevin pointed out that the orthotic breaks-in and starts to hug the foot more and moves with it, and that had not happened. So that one is on me.
I should say that I am continued to be pleased with Kevin’s customer service and guidance. This is not a one-time buy and walk away deal. He is patient and he wants me to succeed with these boots.
A friend who saw my first post about the boots sent me this fascinating read about “Giving shit as a service”. There is significant value in working with an artisan who cares about his work.
There will be more reviews as I hike more on these boots.