The Proper Hat and Shoes

A big part of hiking is the shoes you wear. The wrong shoes can make what should have been a good day, a nightmare. Many a future hiker has been turned off to hiking by coming home with blisters or a turned ankle . A shoe/boot with not enough support can make a rocky trail a dangerous one.
I am a Merrell hiking boot person and Emery is strictly a Columbia man. I can buy a pair of Merrells in my size without trying them on, ( I always do but they always feel great no matter what style they are) same for Emery and his Columbia's.
Today we got to try out our newest hiking shoes. Low ones for short hikes in warm weather. Both of us were delighted in how well they worked out. No slipping on that nasty loose rock on the uphill and down hill.
Now along with the shoes, I think the right hat is important too. You want shade. Plain and simple. I seem to like to decorate my hat to make it more personal. You know, love and peace type thing. Emery is far more conservative and keeps his perfectly new looking. My hat gets comments from the fellow hikers we run into. You know sorta like, "hey nice hat, you vegan ?" I guess my hippy hat says more about me than some other things I wear.
We just carry a small day pack on trips like today's adventure. Filled with things like activated charcoal for insect and snake bits, ponchos for unexpected rain, although I suspect neither of us would use one at this point as rain is so scarce we would probably dance in it. I have a snake bite kit, matches, first aid kit, camera of course, and then there is the food. Always the standard, whole wheat tortillas spread with almond or cashew butter and sprinkled with raisins, amaranth crackers, today we had some fruit juice with us along with my once frozen water bottle, that thawed incredibly fast today, and we always have some sort of nuts. Today we had Emery's cell phone from work with us, but we had a good chuckle as it had no service most of the time, so it wouldn't be the thing for an emergency !
Emery got bit by something today, we never found out what, so I applied a compress of activated charcoal and in no time there was no pain, redness or swelling. Gutta love charcoal !
We ate our lunch at the waters edge. Decided we were too hot to do much more so headed home. A good day all in all.
Next time I will let Emery have the camera a time or two and take some shots of me along the trail.

If you haven't tried hiking, give it a try. Its something that can be done as a couple or a family. It never seems right to me to see just the husband or the wife head off to do their own thing. We like to do things together. Hiking is something we can both enjoy at the same time. Makes so many memories and provided great chatting time. We can both look forward to a new adventure.
We hiked a lot when the children were babies in a backpack at first, then as they grew, doing their own walking.
It seems for people, walking and talking is such a natural combination so hiking is a good way to open up the door to communication too.
The peace and quiet along with the exercise you get is just fantastic.
We like an 8 mile hike best for a one day trek. Today was only a couple miles and that was plenty with the heat.
Oh one more piece of equipment I like is my walking stick. Just makes you look so into the sport.

Emery with his hat and his new shoes on

My new shoes

My hat.