(no subject)

Okay, I really, really have to get a decent night's sleep tonight.

It's not that I'm getting so little, I've been getting 5-6.5 pretty much every night, which is certainly tolerable for a night or two. But it's been almost a week. Not quite sure what's up with me -- partly it's getting to bed late and reflexively getting up early, partly it's my "get too tired to sleep in" thing... Damned annoying, anyway.

Yesterday tshar and I went up the iron goat trail (the part with the tunnel, this time). A switch back to my heavy hiking boots proved fortuitous -- they give much better ankle support. Everything was windy and cloudy (a view is completely different when the background recedes into mist, and the foreground is full of dried gold brackenfern and vine maples) and the tunnel was very dark. I really wanted more hiking, but the ankle was aching by the end, so it was probably just right.

I really want to hit Gothic Basin before the snows are in, and maybe the Palisades. (I'll probably be up for the Palisades next week, we'll see.)

Anyhow, then we went over to a movie night / birthday party, which was amusing, and I didn't get home until 1:30. And then up at eightish prior to getting ready for the game.

*blink*

I think some people pay money for things that will make them feel like I do right now.

Sticker shock

So I have been thinking about getting custom alternations done on some hiking boots, or possibly getting custom hiking boots made. This isn't a matter of general snobbery. Even though I'm really picky about the fit of my boots, if I hike a reasonable amount I end up with ingrown toenails on the little toes, no toenails, scars all over my outer toes, and these big black patches that I think are some kind of unhappy blood blister.

This pretty much happens to some degree every year, but I'm hiking more, and with the shorter intervals between hikes and the in some cases longer and harder hikes, my feet have been taking a beating. (Okay, and in other ways too.)

So when jadine and I were out looking at hiking boots for her, I talked a bit to the boot guy about what might help my poor feet. And he recommended looking for boots made on a straight last -- though REI doesn't carry any -- and possibly looking into custom made boots. He said there's this place in Portland...

I suspect it is this place:

http://www.craryshoes.com/gallery/index.htm

Yikes! I've had some custom shoes done before, and looked into others, and though I expected it to be steep, I wasn't thinking around $560! Gah!

Oh well. Back to plan A, which is to talk to the cobbler who does custom alterations on hiking boots in Fremont and see what my options are there. Maybe I should talk to my podiatrist, too. (At the very least, my feet would probably benefit from being taken in for a tune-up, and maybe he can tell me if I'm ever going to have a little toe nail on my right foot again.)