Who Knew: Hiking Shoes Make a Difference (Altra Olympus 275)

TL;DR - I've always just worn my "current old pair" of tennis shoes when I'm out hiking because I never liked hiking boots. They get beat up quickly on desert trails, and so I finally bought some purpose-designed hiking shoes. Wow, what a difference! Like they were built to hike! When I started adventuring more than a decade ago, it was mostly about driving around in the Tacoma, checking out cool places and pushing my truck (and my nerves) over semi-gnarly - because let's be honest, I thought it was extreme at the time - terrain. But as time passed,…