Adventure: Thirty Years and Counting

I’m in love, again. I bought these Vasque Summits thirty years ago and they are still going strong. Sure, there is probably something I could put in the outside to bring back some of the luster but you KNOW how much I love things that last. And these boots have gone above and beyond. There have been long periods where I didn’t wear these boots. Their style, old. Their technology, old.

The purple laces are not original but they are very 1990s. The tread is still at least half strength. I bought these while I was attending UT Austin getting my degree in photojournalism. I wore these boots on most of the trips I undertook over the following decade. Then they had a nice slumber as my life became all about Los Angeles and the idea that I was a professional photographer. Editor meetings, gallery openings, museum shows and hangout out with photographer types. All these things I was before the camera fell away. Hunter, fisherman, hiker, paddler, skier, etc. The boots fell away too, but somehow they clung my life. Somewhere, hidden in the depths of my random belongings.

And then came New Mexico. The location that allowed the fateful box to be moved, the top to be opened and the light to shine once again. My boots. There they are. They have been on my feet ever since and I think I like them now more than ever. Sure, they are a bit heavy. Sure, they are a bit wide for my skinny feet. Sure, they look a bit used up. But none of it matters once they hit the dirt and our lives together continue. Step by step.