The Bay Area of California gets six months of dry weather, and six months of rainy weather. It’s nothing like Seattle — I think our average rainfall at peak is about half of what it is up there. But still: the rain’s coming soon; it’s already a couple weeks late.

That means six months of muddy trails, which isn’t a big deal if your favorite trails get lots of foot traffic (compacting the dirt) and well-groomed (with gravel or sand to keep the mud at bay). If, like me, your favorite trails are favorites of horse people, they’ll be soft, gooey muck for most of the wet season. I hike for exercise on these trails a couple times a week, which means I need some footwear that I don’t mind getting caked in mud all the time.

I’ve got a really nice pair of Vasque hiking boots (pictured on the top of this page) that I’d just as soon not wear out slogging through mud. I thought about buying some of these high-tech overshoes, but they looked hot and heavy (and expensive at 80 bucks). A guy at a local outdoors store suggested I just up a cheap pair of waterproof hiking boots. Hmm, there’s an idea.

Couple days later I got a flier from Lands End featuring these really cool looking boots that were supposed to be warm, waterproof and lightweight — and all for a mere 50 bucks. Deal of a lifetime, right?

So I ordered a pair. Well, they were my size, but everything else about ’em was less than ideal: a really strange, concave footbed that rubbed the edges of my feet the wrong way; lousy arch support; flimsy soles. On the upside, they are stylish and toasty warm. I just can’t hike more than about four miles before my feet start to complain.

At one point while these cruel shoes were giving me fresh blisters it occurred to me: the people who buy at Lands End don’t really go outdoors, they just want to look like somebody who does. I’m keeping these boots so I’ll have something to keep my feet warm on the drive to the trail.

As for tromping through the mud, I’ll probably just wear gaiters with my old trail-running shoes (Montrails wear like iron!). They’ll just get soaked but I’ll be wearing my high-tech socks, which still insulate when they’re wet. And I’ll be moving fast enough that my feet won’t have time to get cold. (I’ll report back on how well this theory pans out).