Date: 2004-04-17
To: Boots
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Then there is the saga of the boots. Custom Limmers have blessed my feet for over 20 years. These boots are made by the Limmer brothers, Peter & Carl, and a small band of others in a big old barn in Interval, NH, just north of North Conway. They are constructed of all leather uppers and a heavy Vibram sole with a steel shank. They are unique in that the upper is a single piece of leather with only one seam and it is located in the instep. This creates a boot with no seams to rub blisters into the foot. They are extremely stable, rugged, water resistant and comfortable once broken in. The drawbacks are cost and weight. My style of hiking has evolved from wearing Limmers. Who cares where your foot lands when it is so well protected? Just aim for the rocks, be they pointy or not, and the Vibram and steel will distribute the impact evenly to the foot. The rigid sole will guarantee good balance, and the Vibram will stick to the steepest rock.Another feature of a Limmer boot is that it can be resoled. Back in the 80¢s, I couldn¢t afford custom Limmers but they had some that were made in a factory somewhere in Europe to their specifications. Those boots weren¢t so expensive. Hoping to find a pair that fit, I paid a visit to the Limmer barn way back then. Mrs. Limmer, Peter and Carl¢s mom (Peter Sr. started the business), helped me out but the factory boots didn¢t fit. Then, with her wonderful German(?) accent, she offered a pair of boots from another shelf that had been made for someone else who hadn¢t taken them. They fit perfectly. Those boots carried me over countless miles for over a decade. Taking them in for their fourth resoling, they told me they may not be able to resole them a fifth time. By now I could afford my own custom boots and put my name on the list for a new pair. The list was four years long! I just hoped these soles would last that long. Well, they did and I got my new pair just after my first trip to Alaska.The new boots looked nothing like the old ones as far as shape goes and didn¢t seem to fit as well. That couldn¢t be. After all, these boots were made for my feet. I wore them for the next 8 years. During this time I started rock climbing. I had very tight rock climbing shoes. My big toe knuckle started hurting after a particularly hard landing one night leaping off the stage into the pit during a production of ¢Godspell¢. Eventually the other big toe knuckle started hurting too. That couldn¢t be related to the leap off the stage though. Maybe it was sympathy pain. That¢s silly. The pain got worse over the years. Perhaps it was those nasty rock climbing shoes, but I didn¢t go climbing that often. So I got new bigger rock climbing shoes. I even asked a doctor about it when I was in for a broken hand incurred during a production of ¢42nd Street¢. What a great show. The doc asked about my hiking boots but dropped that when he learned they were custom made. One spring as the hiking season was about to begin and my toes weren¢t hurting much having not been climbing or hiking in a while, I thought maybe it is the Limmers. I dug out the 20 year old Limmers. The insole was cracked like the Grand Canyon. The soles were worn down to the screw but some how they felt great. We went for a hike up Mount Major. Even the traditional run back down was painless. Back at the old Limmer barn, I explained my situation. I was about to leave for a week or two hiking in Wyoming or some such place and that would be followed by nine weeks hiking in camp. They admonished me for not saying something sooner, like 7 years ago. I admitted that I had been in denial. They said they would fix up the old pair at once. Two weeks later those good old boots were making my feet happy again. I once again put my name on the 4 year waiting list for a new pair. It was the spring of 2001.What does all this have to do with the AT in 2004 you may be wondering? By the end of the summer of 2003, it was time for another resoling of the now over 20 year old boots. Up at Limmers just after Thanksgiving the new guy took them in and put them on the shelf to be resoled. During the winter this usually takes between 2 and 4 weeks. Limmers sends a post card typed on a good old type-writer when the boots are ready. There would be no need for them till late spring, so why worry? There were plastic mountaineering boots, plastic telemark ski boots, alpine ski boots, snowboard boots and of course, good old Sorrells to get through the winter. Now it¢s time to hike the AT, and my Limmers are still in the shop. That¢s odd. I call and get told that they are next in line. They lost some of their help and are a bit behind. I explained that the AT is calling in 2 weeks. They say they¢ll be ready in time. I go to the New England Drama Festival. It was in Maine that year. Back at home with one week to go, I call Limmers. They have been waiting for me to call. It seems the new guy who took my boots in had not written down my number. It also seems that the good old boots are too old and cannot be resoled. This means new boots a week before starting the AT. Carl wants me to be angry with him on the phone. He wants me to yell and scream at him, but what good would that do? I tell him I was heading up that way tomorrow anyway and would try on some factory boots.There was a pair of factory boots that almost fit but were a bit narrow. There was also a pair of boots there on consignment that actually fit better but they had been there for many years, and they said the sole would not last very long due to the aging effect on the rubber. I walked out with the Factory boots on my feet in hopes they would stretch out. They went with me to New York City, but they didn¢t get any better even with all those mile of street walking. Back home it was time for another visit to North Conway. This time it would be in search of something light weight and rigid at Ragged Mountain Equipment or EMS. I found a pair of Merrells that seemed to fill that bill for around $120. They were so light they needed no break-in. There had been an ongoing debate in my head as to whether to go with light boots or the good old heavy Limmers. The decision was made for me, which was maybe one reason for my calm response to the bad news from Limmers. So, a day or two later, I was on the trail with brand new boots. A recipe for disaster you might think, but it wasn¢t too bad.