Grandma and Grandpa Salomon
This article is part of our Gear Used Well series - articles that explore people's experiences in the outdoors through their most-loved gear. We believe in celebrating gear longevity, because the most sustainable way to equip for the wild is making the most of what you already own.
It’s Monday and the forecast is calling for a mix of rain and clouds. The weight of those combined do a pretty good job of thinning out traffic. We unfold camp chairs and plop ourselves in a vacant parking spot at Lynn Canyon. We’re surrounded by Douglas fir and the sky is a sheet of grey. A light rain falls as Angelica Redekop walks down the paved lot to join us.
She’s wearing her hair tied back in a ponytail, large round glasses, and a pair of navy blue boots double-knotted at the ankles and spattered with mud. They’re the Salomon X Ultra 3 Mid Gore-Tex featuring water repellent exterior and aggressive grip for technical hikes. After feeling them out for fit at an outdoor store, Angelica set out to look for a pair secondhand. “I found them on Craigslist for fifteen dollars.” She remembers hopping the SkyTrain to Lougheed Towncentre where she was greeted by some grandparents who had bought the boots for their granddaughter who never wore them.
Angelica shuffles her feet. “They’re kind of dirty.” It’s been about five years and it’s tough to say how many hikes she’s clocked since then. “Oh gosh, I don’t know… at least a hundred.” She’s already done the BCMC Trail eighteen times this year. “I go every single Sunday at 6 a.m., just so I’m stronger hiking come summertime. I did that yesterday, and then I did the Coquitlam Lake View Trail and Sawblade Falls after that.”
She’s soft-spoken but drops local trail names like days of the week. Angelica grew up in Ontario near the Niagara Escarpment, but it wasn’t until she moved to B.C. that she really leaned into outdoor recreation. These boots have been part of Angelica’s growth from a beginner to an ambitious backcountry hiker. “They’ve travelled a lot of kilometers,” she laughs, but that’s a pretty casual way to sum up nine days of trekking in the Rockies, hiking most of Garibaldi Park, checking off half of Stephen Hui’s 105 Hikes in and Around Southwestern British Columbia, and the countless unnamed adventures in between.
“They’re starting to get holes, but as long as they keep going I’ll keep wearing them.” Angelica has Berg Lake, Mount Assiniboine, and four days on the West Coast Trail slated for this summer. She also hopes to tackle some tempting local summits, notably Fat Ass Peak sitting at 1,600 m, because who wouldn’t want to see the view from there?
In true PNW fashion, we’re soaked by the time we wrap up. “I was hoping it would rain earlier in the day because I like what it does to my hair, but...” Angelica shrugs as wet strands cling to her forehead. She’s smiling this big, warm smile and it feels like we catch a glimpse of the adaptable optimism she brings to the trail. We say our goodbyes through porous layers plump with rain, and in a perfect conclusion we realize the only dry things in sight are Angelica’s feet. Grandma and Grandpa would be proud.
Photos/words by Sammy & Alvaro of Similar Space.
May, 2021
