Thanks Bill,

The boot failed in that way for a couple reasons. One it was old and was in pretty rough shape before the trip. Secondly it had a very stiff sole, so as the glue came loose I didn't notice. The stiffness of the sole and a few attachment points kept everything together pretty well. The last factor was how rocky it was up there. Hopping from rock to rock put an awful lot of tension on the glue between the sole and the boot. It was on one of those hops that the boot failed so dramatically.

It held together very well on the way down. The stiffness of the sole really helped and I was quite glad to have brought duct tape.

It is quite dry up there. I don't know what it was like when you hiked it. The western side of the mountain is greener, but still pretty dry. South of there in the valley is Owens lake, which is pretty much just a big salt flat now. Of course I think that is mostly due to LA pumping so much water out of the ground. (actually looking at wiki, it looks like we have been sucking owens lake dry since the '20's... so probably a bit before your time).