Thanks Scott, I agree about the awesome team
Wow, that was an incredible journey through some exquisite canyon landscape! Being able to put yourself deep within a cross-section of the earths history like that always gets you going. The sculpted curves and then the countless layers of sandstone are something to behold. I kept getting out of sight behind the group because I couldn't stop gawking and taking pictures and craning my neck to look at as many details as I could. Then I would catch up when they got to the next pool of water
Damn, that water was COLD! I wish we had a thermometer to get a reading.
My synopsis on the Keen Boulders:
mcvick, I thought the Keens gripped very well and they surprised me on a few occassions where I expected them to slip. But Mark is right - there are some surfaces that will confound the stickiest of soles... and I almost incurred some dental work at one point
I would rate them pretty high as far as grip goes for a canyoneering trip like this though, where a sandal-type (draining) shoe is required. I felt really confident with them early on in the trip. The Boulders upper construction is notably more rigid than the Newport H2 and for myself, this has advantages and drawbacks. The rigid upper obviously helps keep the foot structure in a supported position which is pretty critical for a trip like this. I always felt like my foot was well contained and supported in this shoe. The drawback is that the ridgid materials and the material used to line the inside surfaces tend to be felt on the flesh a bit more than the Newports (softer) so I think there are possible issues with a "break-in" period being required, whereas the Newports do not require a "break-in". An alternative would be to wear a thin liner sock. Only more time will tell though. My feet had some hot spots the following day when I put the Boulders on again, so I switched back to the Newports. I think this will be alleviated once I get to wear them more though. The enclosed toe-box combined with the wide open-strap construction is pretty much ideal for a canyoneering trip like this. I was able to firmly plant the toe of the shoes in all sorts of scenarios where the peace-of-mind knowing my tootsies were out of harms way is kind of a sub-conscious advantage. The issue of gravel trapped in the toe-box is a real one, but was surprisingly infrequent on this trip (for me anyway). That is the trade-off for the tootsie protection - you have to remove the shoe to get aggregates/debris out sometimes. We need to do some more trips with these to give them more of a time-line evaluation. So far, I am impressed.
