While big Wyvis gets lots of attention, little Wyvis, it's lower neighbour, is just sitting there, watching people walk by without getting much visits. We love hills that are less busy, especially on a bright and sunny day. Finally it’s getting a little warmer; oh how nice it was to run loose for a day. Our last hill walk we were walking through the snow, and now shorts and t-shirts. The difference couldn’t be larger. Nature still looked a bit brown, but the cotton weed was out, and greens were starting to become more intense.

Wyvis must be about the closest Munro to our house, and it’s little friend is therefore not far as well. It’s always fun to try to find our house from a hill, or at least recognize some land and sea features around us.

We can't help but smiling. How nice to be out!

Those Red Leather Boots!

Fourteen years ago I set about on a mission to get hiking boots. In the big prairie town of Winnipeg, there isn't much for alpine boots, but I wanted something that would be able to handle some light ice climbing. It wasn't going to be an easy task, my feet have never been good at fitting footwear, always a little tight here, or a little loose there, or rubbing really the wrong way somewhere else. So ordering boots online or sight untried wasn't going to work.

To try on a pair of boots it involved a thirteen hour one way journey two provinces over to find an Alberta-located boot to try on. A candidate there made by La Sportiva in Italy seemed a little not quite right, but then I found the manufacturer offered half European sizes. I placed my bet and ordered in a forty-five-and-a-half and sure enough, it fit perfectly.

And dazzlers they were, red Italian leather, not a supercar, but a GoreTex hiking boot!

And these boots have walked around a bit, always holding up well, only begging for mercy at the sharpened spike of a stray crampon, nothing a little glue couldn't handle.

Fast forward, fourteen years and the boots are trekking up Scotish hills, and I start to notice a little deterioration. The rubber rand started to peel, so they got a little more glue, nothing that couldn't be restored. Then they seemed a little less waterproof, just a small seep, nothing too concerning. Then the sole developed a crack in the heel ... it didn't seem like much, a little epoxy in the wound and it seemed like the boots were good for another year.

Quietly, I started looking for a new pair. Of course, the passage of time meant you couldn't get the same boot anymore, but La Sportiva made something close. I mean they would just be a backup for now, I still had my prized pair.

But this hike up Little Wyvis proved there wasn't a year left in them, there wasn't even a full Munro. Approaching the top of Little Wyvis, I felt like I was still going up hill. A look down gave quite the surprise, the little cracks filled with epoxy were no longer there, none of the heels were there at all; both sides! The walk down was a little like walking in flip flops, soles flapping about on the grass.

I'm told these boots are done ... but I can't quite part yet, it has been too long, and they are just too red. Maybe there's one more trip in them?