Disclosure: The good folks were kind enough to send me a promo code to cover the cost of the shoes based upon my offer to review the shoes. I made no promise of a favorable review.

I received these shoes after the trip and wanted to wait to review them until I had a chance to break them in and wear them under a few different conditions. To date, I have worn them around the house, on a few outdoor ventures, and during significant rain events and hiking glen trails.

Comfort: I have found the shoe to be very comfortable. At first, it felt like an odd fit. Not a bad fit, just different than what I was used to wearing.  The instep strikes me as the differentiating factor. Because of this, I doubt the shoe will be comfortable for everyone, but what shoes is? I have read other complaints of chaffing and discomfort, but neither has been my experience.

Vibram Sole: Outstanding. I have wore these in slick conditions and had great traction. I wore them hiking in Robert H. Treman State Park in the finger Lakes region of New York and found the  soles to do quite well on  the wet, glen rock trails.

Support: These don’t strike me as a shoe I would wear for heavy-duty hiking, especially with a pack, but for light hiking, great. I loved how they performed hiking in Robert H. Tremain State Park. I was concerned about the ankle support, since I have exceptionally poor ankles and prefer hiking with boots for the support, but I had no support problems.

Water: I wore the Tawas shoes when photographing an incoming thunderstorm late this summer.  I was caught in a downpour that soaked me through from head to toe. I was so wet, I tried ringing out my clothes before I took cover in the car (it was useless.) The shoes drained the water effectively and dried out quickly. No chaffing in the long hike back to the car. The shoes did not get the heavy soaked feel when wet, either. I would say from a water shoe perspective, they were outstanding. I can’t wait to try them out in Zion National Park’s Narrows someday.

Construction/Durability: These shoes seem very well constructed. They shoe no signs of deterioration or defect.

I would recommend these shoes at the sale price, not full price. If you can get them for under $65, I think they are worth the money. I am probably in the minority, but I would love to see these type of water/canyoneering shoes with a high-top for support for those of us with bad ankles. When walking on uneven ground or streams, we need that extra protection.

Shortly after arrival and orienting ourselves with Zion National Park yesterday, the skies grew dark as we considered our excursion options. As the skies darkened and thunder became audible, we decided to stay put at the Human History Museum to wait out the storm. We quickly realized that regardless of which direction the storm’s approach, we were in a great spot to capture lightning, so Jenn quickly set up her camera.

The storm did not disappoint us. After two months without rain, Zion the worst storm it has seen in at least for seasons according to one Park Ranger. The storm produced dangerous lightning and torrential downpours.  The longer the rain continued, however, the more worrisome the storm became. The many canyons in Zion contained an unknown amount of hikers and these canyons are notorious for flash floods. Rescues cannot even be attempted by land until the river recedes and the debris clears. Later Saturday night, the sky was willed with the sound of helicopters with rescue rafts, attempting to rescue some of the stranded hikers. As of this post, it is unknown how many hikers were affected.

A waterfall appeared during and after the storm from the excess water

Green River Overlook, Canyonalnds National Park

After our trip to Canyonlands we ventured back to spend a little time in Arches National Park, where we will return for sunset tonight and hopefully, some night photography under the clear, dark Utah skies.
As we made our way through western Colorado, we saw some amazing mesas, mountains, and other rock formations. However, our amazement would soon succumb to the breath-taking colors found in the red Utah rocks.

Green River Overlook, Canyonalnds National Park

After our scenic drive into Moab, we ventured out to a nearby National Park that few have heard of and fewer have explored: Canyonlands National Park for a sunset at the Green River Overlook in the Island in the Sky region of the park. The overlook provides views of giant red monoliths and what seems to be the almost surreal Soda Springs Basin and Green River below. Adding to the inherent beauty of the experience, A distant storm’s clouds provided color and texture to the scene. This morning, we rose early (3:55 AM Mountain time) to repeat the journey of one hour and fifteen minutes to tackle the brief hike through the high desert to Mesa Arch. The shot of Mesa Arch that we were after was not original at all and is truly the iconic shot of the famous arch. When the sun meets the rock, a natural sunburst occurs and the arch becomes aglow. We were the first photographers to arrive, thus giving us our pick of the spots. Again, we were treated to a beautiful sky and thankfully, we were able to come away with the shots that we wanted.

Mesa Arch - Canyonlands National Park

After hiking to Dream Lake

We are on the road again today after spending 2 days and three nights at Jim & Ginger’s in Colorado. We loved the Rockies! Next, we are off to Utah.

Blog posts are the last things we are keeping up with, so for the most current informaiton, you can follow us on Twitter (/seetheparks) or click the Twitter button on the corkboaron the left side of the website. Facebook is the second best way to keep up with us. Simply “Like” the button on http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/SeetheParks?ref=ts and we will appear in your news feed.

We are doing some live video as we have either 3G or WiFi, and at the request of little Lily, Auntie Jenn will make more appearances in the videos. We Tweet and post to Facebook before we go live.

Dream Lake

Lastly, We are posting some photos to our Flickr photostream below. Simply click the Flickr photostream button in the bottom left corner of the website and then click the photo set you would like to see.

We made our way to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park today and we were not disappointed. Even with on again – off again rain, we enjoyed splendid views of the Trail Ridge Road, an area of the park that features America’s highest paved road. Part of the road has a tundra climate, which provides snow in the Never Summer mountains and glacial lakes. It was about 58 degrees F today while were up there and a stiff wind gave us a goosebumps while mot of you suffered through a heat wave. We have posted just a handful of photos in the Flickr Photoset at the bottom of the site (bottom left corner – click the button.) Tomorrow: up for an early sunrise.

No corny jokes allowed. We drove through some of the heart of corn country today. A lot of people warned us it would be boring, but we enjoyed the beautiful supercell clouds that seemed to be building as well as the blue sky, rich green fields, and the simplicity of the areas we passed. There is a threat of storms tonight, so we might have some fun, but most of the bad weather is to our north.

We ate dinner at a little place called Iowa’s Best Burgers found via the layers on Google Navigation. It had a 5 star rating with 19 reviews, all raving of the great food. We were not disappointed by the friendly service, excellent local, fresh meat, and low prices. WE took some time to admire the corn in the fields around the parking lot, too.

Tomorrow: on to more corn and then to Colorado!

Well, we didn’t get quite as far as we wanted to with the website re-launch yet, but that’s OK, you get an extended sneak peak of the new site. Below is a is an image that is a mock-up of the new site concept. Today you can watch the launch party right from this post. In the future, the live video feature can be accessed by clicking the Live Video TV icon on the cork board.

Merrick's Butte, Monument Valley is an icon of the Southwest

Actually, this was a deceptive title. A butte is pronounced pronounced “ˈbjuːt” or like “bute”, not like “but” and it is a rock formation, similar to a hill, that stands all by itself. Our trip is loaded with fantastic views of these unique buttes. The geologic rule for a butte is that the top is more narrow than the base. Buttes are commonly found along the northern Great Plains and Southwest.

Conversely, a mesa is wider at the top than it is at its base. Stay tuned for lots of buttes and mesas!