I hiked in France and Austria with my leather boots, over rocks and meadows. They once got really wet during my holiday in Ireland. Leather is not the best material when it comes to water contact. Once they are wet, they remain wet for two days minimum.
So I thought I better ask the dear people in Scotland who organise the hiking-holiday, if these boots will be ok for walks in Scotland. I must admit, those guide-books, telling the most horrible stories about deep water holes and "4 seasons in a day" did their job. (Their main aim is to get people like me – who can easily hike up to 2800m – to respect those lower mountains in Scotland. Yes, they are only 1000m high, but hikes in Scotland are at least as challenging as our 2800m high mountains-hikes, if not more.
I've received an answer and it seems those hikes are going to be more challenging compared to any hikes I experienced so far:
"You boots look firm enough to me for Scotland and still in a very good state. However if they do not have a waterproof liner it is very likely that you will get wet feet. The west coast of Scotland is wet and boggy and you will certainly have to cross a lot of wet ground.
Using gaiters/gamaschen will help a bit with keeping your
boots/feet dry and if you don't have them, we always have a
couple of pairs in the minibus for clients to use during the
holiday.
You certainly have to fill them with newspaper every evening to dry them out from the inside and replace the newspapers at least once before you go asleep."
You certainly have to fill them with newspaper every evening to dry them out from the inside and replace the newspapers at least once before you go asleep."
Every evening? Twice?
And they are NOT referring to rainfalls.
Must start with a new mantra: I am doing this freely. I am not getting paid for this. I pay for this. This is what I want.
PS: of course, Goretex would be an option, if only I did not loathe shopping and shoe-shopping above all kinds of shopping so much. :-/
Try to get some NikWax. It does a good job of waterproofing.I have some Blundstone boots that I use in the winter and it works in snow.
ReplyDeleteI should' ve said that I put the Nikwax on my boots.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the advice, Debbi!
ReplyDeleteI will treat my leather boots with NikWax (I still have an old NixWax tin can with a very greasy leather polish and got myself a new NikWax).