Goodbye Old Friends

I made the mistake of dating and then marrying a man who loves to hike. Which means I am now someone who hikes. To be fair I did enjoy my fair share of hikes growing up (Yosemite Falls, Mt Dana and Lassen to say a few) but while Martin’s heart lies in the mountains mine is definitely on the beaches of Hawaii. 

Eager to dress the part and prove I could be a “hiker” in our early days of dating, I went out and bought a pair of hiking boots, pants, and poles. The hiking poles were used once and then left at the in-laws house never to be seen again. And this past week after 10+ years I had to say goodbye to the boots. They officially gave up on me.

On our first morning at Rancho La Puerta Erin and I woke up early to join the 4.5 mile morning mountain hike. About 1 mile in and half way up the hill my right boot felt a little odd. I looked down to see the tread of my right boot flapping up and down with each step like a ventriloquist’s dummy. The rubber was separating from the boot. With more than 2.5 miles to go (already factoring in the early turn off) I needed a solution.

Unfortunately no one had duct tape (or any sort of supplies) but Erin did have a ponytail holder that I could wrap around the toe, so that would have to work. And it did for a while until it fell off and the flapping started again. Using my MacGyver-like skills I replaced the lost pony tail holder with my cloth face mask making a diaper/chin strap contraption that thankfully lasted the rest of the hike and all the way to the concierge for duct tape.

At breakfast everyone seemed to know about my blowout and, less than 12 hours into my stay, I had made a name for myself.

Like all lifelong partners, the left boot tread gave out two days later resulting in another sacrificed face mask and finally admitting it was time to say goodbye.

We had a good run and made a lot of memories.

Our first hut hike in Switzerland (2009)

Our "Honeymoon" in the Dolomites (2013)

The W Trail in Patagonia (2015)

The Last Hurrah (2021)