Dear KEEN Footwear,

I wanted to write you to let you know that I completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail wearing a pair of your KEEN Newport sandals. After hiking a little under half of the trail in a pair of Asolo boots (another great product but to hot and heavy for thru-hiking) I began wearing the Newport sandals at mile 968.4 and wore them all the way to Mt. Katahdin 1,210.7 miles later. The Newport’s were the only pair of footwear I had so I hiked, spent time in camp, and all my time in towns in these sandals. The 1,210.7 miles does not include countless side trails, as well as road walks and all my time spent wandering around towns.

I replaced the elastic laces shortly after hitting the Maine state border, but they held up great otherwise. There isn’t much tread on them at this point, but I would definitely wear a pair again on any warmer weather backpacking trip. I would like to try the Arroyo II shoes/sandals next as I feel they may provide better heel support while still offering that sandal style I was looking for.

[Here are] some photos from my hike including shots at the midpoint of the AT, the NY/NJ boarder, the VT/NH boarder, on top of Mt. Moosilauke in NH, and finally on top of “the greatest mountain” Mt.Katahdin- Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

I now work at an REI in the Washington D.C. area and always have good things to say to customers/fellow employees about your product. Thanks again for all your hard work in developing a fantastic and reliable shoe.

Sincerely,

Kevin Kaczmarski