Gear Review: Brooks Cascadia 8's

I got my first pair of Brooks Cascadia 8's on 2014 halfway through the Appalachian Trail after going through three different pairs of shoes and struggling with serious blister and plantar fasciitis trouble. 1,600 miles later and one quarter of the way through the PCT it is finally time to say goodbye.

The shoes held up pretty much entirely until around 1,300 miles. The first signs of wear were small tears in the fabric around the ball of the foot on each shoe. The rubber of the soles began tearing and detaching next, but some shoe Shoe Goo was able to fix that. Eventually the tears in the fabric got bad enough that I was scooping sand with each step and that's when I finally caved and went for a new pair.

Other than that I never had any other real trouble with the shoes. This is especially impressive given how often I would trip and catch different parts of the shoe on rocks or sticks in ways I was sure would tear the things right open. No trouble with the front of the shoe coming unglued. No trouble with the sole deteriorating - even well worn it had good traction.

I haven't heard as many good things about the newer Cascadia models which is sad. The reports have been that Brooks, in an effort to make the shoes lighter, skimped on material and/or design and they fall apart much more quickly. Fortunately for me, I was able to find the same pair of Cascadia 9's on eBay - I'm hoping they make it the rest of the way to Canada.