Sure, some companies like to just tell you about the products they sell, but we like to put our feet where our mouth is (so to speak) by putting our products to the test using the most demanding outdoor enthusiasts around: us!

So after thoroughly forgetting the aches the initial hike imposed on us one year ago, 30 of us from the marketing and merchandising teams laced up our Hi-Tec hiking boots, slipped on our moisture-wicking Lorpen socks, adjusted our Leki hiking poles, and set off for Rattlesnake Ridge in Washington’s picturesque Cascade Mountains.

The smart ones strolled along the pristine mountain lake at the bottom, while the rest of us decided we not only needed to sweat, we needed to sweat at an elevation 1,175 feet up. After all, we go to great lengths (and apparently heights) to see how our boots do in the real world.

It was, as they say, a hike. And yes, some of us were wondering how the heck we got talked into this “walk in the woods” as we abashedly got passed by grandmothers and dachshunds. But then we remembered that we weren’t sitting at our desks navigating Vista on our computers, we were out navigating the trail for a natural vista.

But the best thing? While we constantly thought about our protesting muscles as we climbed up for 40-minutes, we barely gave a second thought to our feet in our Hi-Tec boots. Which, if you think about it, is exactly how good hiking shoes should be: Navigating the rocky climb perfectly so that we could concentrate on the scenery and good friends around us (plus, the latest office gossip) as we reached our destination.

And what a destination it was. It was scenic, it was tranquil, it was breathtaking…literally breathtaking as we collapsed, catching said breath before our decent. But as we stood there in our Hi-Tec trail shoes basking in our accomplishment, each of us knew we were already planning our next great adventure.

See ya on the trails!