Old Boots

As most of you know I have spent many years doing hikes. I have used this one pair of boots for most of my hikes. They have become my Old Boots.
As the Stake Hike Leader for the 4th and 5th year girls I have lead many hikes: I have lead at least 5 Havasupai hikes (20 miles round trip), a couple hikes at Picacho Peak (7 miles round trip), and probably 7 or 8 hikes to Fossil Springs (7 miles round trip)- not to mention all the hikes while up at Girls Camp. And the actual planned hikes are usually the least of the mileage logged on your boots (feet).
There is usually a period of at least 5 - 6 weeks of training hikes that are done in preparation for the hike. Those were usually treks up local hiking trails varying in length from 3 - 4 miles round trip. Some of those hikes were: Shaw Butte, North Mountain, Squaw Peak (more recently named Piestewa Peak), and the Waterfall Trail in the White Tanks. These are just the hikes related to my calling as the hike leader.
I have in recent years also done some hiking for fun. I hiked Paria Canyon 2 years ago. Shortly after that I did a Grand Canyon hike - destination Thunder River. So I did many pre-hikes to get ready for those as well. And in the recent weeks Doug and I are preparing for a Paria Hike at the end of May. So we are doing more pre-hikes.
Anyway - my Old Boots have been with me on many of those hikes. After our recent 10 mile hike on Trail 100 in the rain we sat by our vehicles waiting for a couple more scouts to finish the hike. I looked down and saw my Old Boots were in bad repair. And actually after a close inspection I feel very lucky that I didn't walk right out of my Old Boots. I think the rubber is brittle and the glue has given up the ghost or something because there are soles flapping and rubber peeling and split everywhere I look! I used some Shoe Goo a couple of years ago to close some gaps - worked really well by the way. But I don't think there is much hope in using a little Shoe Goo to extend the life of my Old Boots. They have lived their life seeing a lot of action with me. Given all that - I am still having a terrible time throwing away my Old Boots.